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March 25, 2009

Probe: Labor Dept. Fails to Safeguard Worker Rights
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A new congressional probe says the government agency for enforcing labor
laws has failed to protect workers. In a report set for release today,
the Government Accountability Office says the Labor Department’s Wage
and Hour Division hasn’t adequately enforced violations of minimum wage,
overtime and other labor rights. The study says agency officials
mishandled nine out of ten cases brought by undercover agents posing as
workers. Some investigators dropped cases simply because the accused
employers didn’t return their calls. Others waited months to respond to
worker complaints and then said it would take another several months to
act on them. The report says, “Labor has left thousands of actual
victims of wage theft who sought federal government assistance with
nowhere to turn. Unfortunately, far too often the result is unscrupulous
employers’ taking advantage of our country’s low-wage workers.”



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