Already in the first half of this year (2014), the New York Department of Labor has recovered and dispersed over 16.4 million in wages, interest, and damages, on behalf of workers who were improperly subjected to unfair wages and insufficient benefits.
According to the Department of Labor (DOL), officials have completed approximately 5000 cases in 6 months alone, representing a nearly 50% increase from the amount of cases completed within the same time frame last year.
Furthermore, disbursements of monies and benefits that were found to be unfairly withheld have increased by 16%. Generally, these case investigations centered around accusations of fraud, unpaid wages, misclassification of employees, unemployment benefits, insufficient pay, minimum wage violations and much more.
The DOL reports that 2014’s emphasized expedience in completing cases and increasing disbursements is the result of new policies and operations, one of which includes referring more cases to compliance conferences for resolution.
Notably, DOL officials report that the department has completed 78 percent of its investigations into cases that were opened in January 2014; 99 percent of investigations into cases that were opened last year; and nearly 100 percent of every investigation commenced previous to 2012.
If you or a loved one have been the victim of unfair wages or insufficient benefits at the hand of your employer, contact a skilled New York employment attorney.
