DOL and EEOC Annual Penalty Increases

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The Department of Labor and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission have announced their annual penalty increases. Due to the passage of the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015, federal agencies must issue regulations annually to adjust for inflation the maximum civil penalties that they can impose.

The DOL’s announced increases for 2018 include the following:

  • Fair Labor Standards Act. For repeated or willful violations of the FLSA’s minimum wage or overtime requirements, the maximum monetary penalty will increase from $1,925 to $1,964. Penalties for violation of the FLSA’s child labor restrictions will increase from a maximum of $12,278 per under-18 worker to $12,529, while violations resulting in the child’s death will increase from a maximum of $55,808 to $56,947, which may be doubled for repeated or willful violations.
  • Employee Polygraph Protection Act. The penalty for violations of EPPA increases from $20,111 to $20,521.
  • Family and Medical Leave Act. The penalty for failing to comply with the posting requirement increases from $166 to $169.
  • Occupational Safety and Health Act. The maximum penalty for posting, other-than-serious, serious, and failure-to-abate violations increases from $12,675 to $12,934. The maximum penalty for willful and repeat violations increases from $126,749 to $129,336.

The EEOC has increased the 2018 penalty for violation of the notice-posting requirements in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act from $534 to $545.