DOL’s Annual Penalty Increase

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The Department of Labor has announced its 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 2019 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 $1,964 to $2,014. Penalties for violation of the FLSA’s child labor restrictions will increase from a maximum of $12,529 per under-18 worker to $12,845, while violations resulting in the child’s death will increase from a maximum of $56,947 to $58,383, which may be doubled for repeated or willful violations.
  • Employee Polygraph Protection Act.The penalty for violations of EPPA increases from $20,521 to $21,039.
  • Family and Medical Leave Act.The penalty for failing to comply with the posting requirement increases from $169 to $173.
  • Occupational Safety and Health Act. The maximum penalty for posting, other-than-serious, serious, and failure-to-abate violations increases from $12,934 to $13,260. The maximum penalty for willful and repeat violations increases from $129,336 to $132,598.