Businesses Slow to Self-Report Wage Offenses Under New Plan (1)

Only a sliver of employers are taking the Labor Department up on a new program to self-report wage-and-hour violations so far, but the program already is paying off in the form of $4.1 million recovered for workers, the DOL said Sept. 26 in a report to Congress.

The Labor Department processed 74 cases in the first 18 months of the voluntary program, or about 1 percent of its total compliance actions over the same time, according to the report. State and local governments accounted for nearly a quarter of employers that self-reported violations. Participants paid roughly $55,000 per audit, ...