In the past few days we’ve heard several reports from Georgia, Alabama, and the mid-south of Wage and hour investigations. It has been a few years since we’ve seen widespread investigations in the region but it seems like we’ll be seeing a lot more of them this year once again.

The typical investigation can be either announced by a letter or email or unannounced where they just show up. They will normally want to see payroll records for the past couple of years. There is an emphasis on child labor so they will want birthdays of all under 18 yr old employees. If you’re not comfortable sharing some information have a discussion with the inspector about why you’re not comfortable and see if there’s another way to get to the answer they’re looking for. Most of these inspectors are reasonable and the requests are relatively generic. Read the situation and act accordingly. Call me if you need more clarification here.

Make sure you have your posters on the wall. The main ones they will be looking for is the Minimum Wage Poster and anything related to the Migrant and Seasonal Worker Protection Act (MSPA)and H-2A. The MSPA poster applies to workers who leave their permanent residence and come to work for you temporarily. The H-2A poster should only be on the wall if you have H-2A workers.

The other thing that is normally checked out is any housing you provide. This applies to both MSPA and H-2A workers. If you provide housing for either of these groups, it would be a good idea to inspect your housing now. It doesn’t matter what shape your housing was in at the beginning of the season, the condition today is what you could be held accountable for. Look at this check list and go to your housing and go through the check list soon.

Let us know if you get an investigation so we can continue to track the activities of the agency this season.

Give us a call if you have questions.

Dusty