www.dol.gov/esa/whd
|
November 17, 2004 DOL > ESA > WHD > Statistics > 2002 |
2002 Statistics Fact Sheet Wage and Hour Division Enforcement in Fiscal Year 2002 at Ten-Year HighThe Employment Standards Administration’s Wage and Hour Division recovered more than $175 million in back wages in fiscal year 2002 – a 33 percent increase over fiscal year 2001 and the largest amount collected in the last ten years. The number of workers receiving back wages increased over 21 percent. The agency completed 40,264 compliance actions in fiscal year 2002, a 6 percent increase over the 38,051 completed actions in fiscal year 2001. For the first time since 1992, the Wage and Hour Division also saw an increase in total enforcement hours logged by agency employees.
|
FLSA Enforcement Statistics |
FY2001 |
FY2002 |
Change |
---|---|---|---|
Concluded FLSA Cases |
31,772 |
33,154 |
4.3% |
FLSA Cases with Monetary Violations |
21,001 |
23,111 |
10.0% |
Back Wages Collected for FLSA Cases |
$111,102,883 |
$142,979,826 |
28.6% |
Employees Receiving Back Wages |
195,257 |
241,568 |
23.7% |
Civil Money Penalties Assessed |
$2,987,567 |
$2,211,126 |
-25.9% |
The Wage and Hour Division continues to pursue targeted enforcement in low-wage industries with vulnerable, and often immigrant, workforces and a history of chronic violations. In fiscal year 2002, the agency set national priorities and goals in the garment, agriculture and health care industries. Although the number of concluded cases declined, the back wages collected by the agency in these industries increased substantially. The Wage and Hour Division collected almost $6 million in back wages for garment workers in fiscal year 2002 – a 27.3 percent increase over the $4.7 million collected in fiscal year 2001. In addition, garment workers receiving back wages in fiscal year 2002 increased by 51 percent. The back wages collected for agriculture employees increased by 30 percent, from almost $1.7 million in fiscal year 2001 to almost $2.2 million in fiscal year 2002. Finally, although back wages collected for health care workers increased only 3.5 percent in fiscal year 2002, the number of health care employees receiving back wages increased by 20.5 percent.
Low-Wage Industries Statistics |
FY2001 |
FY2002 |
Change |
---|---|---|---|
Garment Manufacturing |
|||
Concluded Cases |
1,361 |
1,000 |
-26.5% |
Back Wages Collected |
$4,659,127 |
$5,933,609 |
27.3% |
Employees Receiving Back Wages |
5,188 |
7,842 |
51.1% |
Agriculture |
|||
Concluded Cases |
2,306 |
2,177 |
-5.5% |
Back Wages Collected |
$1,655,147 |
$2,158,068 |
30.3% |
Employees Receiving Back Wages |
8,834 |
6,259 |
-29.1% |
Health Care |
|||
Concluded Cases |
2,375 |
2,219 |
-6.5% |
Back Wages Collected |
$9,870,468 |
$10,219,116 |
3.5% |
Employees Receiving Back Wages |
20,219 |
24,380 |
20.5% |
In fiscal year 2002, the Wage and Hour Division also continued to pursue targeted enforcement of the child labor provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. As a result of these efforts, the agency increased targeted child labor investigations by 4 percent. However, the number of child labor violations found in fiscal year 2002 decreased by 8 percent from fiscal year 2001. Similarly, the number of Hazardous Occupation (HO) violations declined by 15 percent, and the number of minors found illegally employed decreased by 2 percent.
Child Labor Statistics |
FY2001 |
FY2002 |
Change |
---|---|---|---|
Targeted Child Labor Cases |
2,021 |
2,105 |
4.1% |
Cases with Violations |
2,103 |
1,936 |
-7.9% |
Minors Employed in Violation |
9,918 |
9,690 |
-2.2% |
Minor Per Case |
4.7 |
5 |
6.3% |
Cases with HO Violations |
876 |
748 |
-14.6% |
Minors Employed in Violation of HOs |
2,060 |
1,710 |
-16.9% |
Civil Money Penalties Assessed |
$6,637,118 |
$5,547,026 |
-16.4% |
Child Labor Enforcement Time |
7.4% |
6.3% |
-1.1% |
The Wage and Hour Division found over $3.7 million in back wages for violations of the Family and Medical Leave Act in fiscal year 2002, a 25% increase over the $3 million found for FMLA violations in fiscal year 2001. The number of FMLA complaint investigations concluded and the number of violations found also increased in fiscal year 2002. Termination of employees seeking FMLA leave continues to be the primary reason that employees file a complaint with the agency.
FMLA Enforcement Statistics |
FY2000 |
FY2001 |
FY2002 |
---|---|---|---|
Number of Complaints |
2,833 |
2,790 |
3,501 |
Nature of Complaint |
|||
Refusal to Grant FMLA Leave |
575 |
629 |
741 |
Refusal to Restore to Equivalent Position |
402 |
360 |
400 |
Termination |
1,159 |
1,123 |
1,503 |
Fail to Maintain Health Benefits |
45 |
62 |
71 |
Discrimination |
652 |
616 |
786 |
Status of Compliance Action |
|||
No Violation Cases |
1,235 |
1,343 |
1,766 |
Employer Not Covered |
71 |
58 |
63 |
Employee Not Eligible |
142 |
164 |
224 |
Complaint Not Valid |
855 |
953 |
1281 |
Other |
167 |
168 |
198 |
Violation Cases |
1,598 |
1,447 |
1,735 |
Number of Employees Affected |
1,668 |
1,627 |
2,077 |
Amount of Monetary Damages |
$2,953,462 |
$2,983,936 |
$3,731,929 |
WHD Enforcement Statistics—All Acts |
FY2001 |
FY2002 |
Percent Change |
---|---|---|---|
Concluded Cases |
9,072 |
9,712 |
7.05 |
Back Wages Collected |
$30,428,969 |
$46,524,908 |
52.90 |
Employees Receiving Back Wages |
41,411 |
61,180 |
47.74 |
Civil Money Penalties Assessed |
$2,494,120 |
$2,508,365 |
0.57 |
Complaints Registered |
5,607 |
6,037 |
7.67 |
Enforcement Hours |
268,334 |
279,797 |
4.27 |
WHD Enforcement Statistics—All Acts |
FY2001 |
FY2002 |
Percent Change |
---|---|---|---|
Concluded Cases |
9,980 |
10,795 |
8.17 |
Back Wages Collected |
$33,902,529 |
$28,395,261 |
-16.24 |
Employees Receiving Back Wages |
54,403 |
58,971 |
8.40 |
Civil Money Penalties Assessed |
$1,770,873 |
$1,378,434 |
-22.16 |
Complaints Registered |
8,921 |
9,915 |
11.14 |
Enforcement Hours |
215,693 |
247,685 |
14.83 |
WHD Enforcement Statistics—All Acts |
FY2001 |
FY2002 |
Percent Change |
---|---|---|---|
Concluded Cases |
9,101 |
8,641 |
-5.05 |
Back Wages Collected |
$27,989,522 |
$33,042,373 |
18.05 |
Employees Receiving Back Wages |
52,277 |
48,790 |
-6.67 |
Civil Money Penalties Assessed |
$2,712,020 |
$2,008,853 |
-25.93 |
Complaints Registered |
7,087 |
7,035 |
-0.73 |
Enforcement Hours |
173,029 |
185,292 |
7.09 |
WHD Enforcement Statistics—All Acts |
FY2001 |
FY2002 |
Percent Change |
---|---|---|---|
Concluded Cases |
5,609 |
6,203 |
10.59 |
Back Wages Collected |
$20,650,898 |
$35,842,259 |
73.56 |
Employees Receiving Back Wages |
38,809 |
58,552 |
50.87 |
Civil Money Penalties Assessed |
$2,457,107 |
$1,691,518 |
-31.16 |
Complaints Registered |
4,923 |
5,424 |
10.18 |
Enforcement Hours |
161,237 |
176,050 |
9.19 |
WHD Enforcement Statistics—All Acts |
FY2001 |
FY2002 |
Percent Change |
---|---|---|---|
Concluded Cases |
4,285 |
4,913 |
14.66 |
Back Wages Collected |
$18,982,739 |
$31,835,691 |
67.71 |
Employees Receiving Back Wages |
29,747 |
36,100 |
21.36 |
Civil Money Penalties Assessed |
$1,122,085 |
$1,458,109 |
29.95 |
Complaints Registered |
2,547 |
3,002 |
17.86 |
Enforcement Hours |
180,603 |
181,776 |
0.65 |
1 Concluded cases include cases initiated as a result of a complaint and self-directed cases initiated by the agency. About 74 percent of all concluded cases in fiscal year 2002 were based on a complaint. This is slightly higher than the 69 percent in fiscal year 2001.
|
|