Dive Brief:
- The U.S. government recovered $259 million in back wages for almost 177,000 employees during fiscal year 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division announced on Thursday.
- This is the most recovered since 2019, the agency said; this recovery averages to about $1,465 per worker, according to a DOL analysis. While the amount recovered in back wages hit a peak, the agency concluded fewer compliance actions overall, with just under 17,000 concluded compared to 17,300 in 2024.
- Interestingly, some compliance experts see AI as a potential pain point for wage and hour violations in 2026.
Dive Insight:
WHD breaks down back wage recovery into several categories, including Fair Labor Standards Act and Family and Medical Leave Act violations. More specifically, FLSA recovery reached over $184 million in 2025, compared to just under $150 million in 2024.
Wage and Hour Division Administrator Andrew Rogers thanked DOL Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer and President Donald Trump on Thursday, stating that, under their leadership, DOL has been enforcing laws “fully and fairly to promote equal competition for all job creators while protecting the rights and earnings of American workers.”
Additionally, the DOL boasted “improved” compliance resources, including updated videos providing FLSA education and an FMLA YouTube series.
The press release announcing the news also highlighted its revamped opinion letter program and Payroll Audit Independent Determination function, which provides employees with the opportunity to “self-report and resolve potential minimum wage and overtime violations” under the FLSA and FMLA.
Certain sectors — what DOL calls “low wage, high violation” industries — were over-represented in the data. For example, the food services industry had 4,088 violations resolved in 2025, with WHD recovering over $42 million in back wages. Likewise, the healthcare industry had 2,370 violations resolved in 2025, with WHD recovering more than $53 million in back wages there.
Apart from DOL enforcement of wage and hour law, what else should HR or internal legal counsel keep in mind?
Attorneys at Fisher Phillips forecasted a few possible 2026 wage and hour trends, including an uptick in lawsuits alleging violations of the Portal-to-Portal Act. Especially over the last five years, more courts have been outlining the parameters of the PTPA; retailers and those with warehouse presences have been at the center of alleged violations, attorneys said.
Attorneys also mentioned rising minimum wage floors for different cities and states, as well as increased WHD guidance through opinion letters.
FP attorneys foresee AI complicating wage and hour issues — namely in how employees are categorized as covered by or exempt from the FLSA.
