DOL – Increased Penalties.

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Less than six months after the Department of Labor increased the civil money penalties that can be imposed for violations of the laws that it enforces, it has announced additional increases. As we previously reported in our July E-Update, 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. These increases will take effect for penalties assessed after January 13, 2017, based on violations occurring after November 2, 2015.

  • 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 $1,894 to $1,925. Penalties for violation of the FLSA’s child labor restrictions will increase from a maximum of $12,080 per under-18 worker to $12,278, while violations resulting in the child’s death will increase from a maximum of $54,910 to $55,808, which may be doubled for repeated or willful violations.
  • Employee Polygraph Protection Act.The penalty for violations of EPPA increases from $19,787 to $20,111.
  • Family and Medical Leave Act.The penalty for failing to comply with the posting requirement increases from $163 to $166.
  • Occupational Safety and Health Act. The maximum penalty for other-than-serious, serious, and failure-to-abate violations increases from $12,471 to $12,675. The maximum penalty for willful and repeat violations increases from $124,709 to $126,749.