Democrats on the House Education and Workforce Committee issued a new report entitled, “A Slap on the Wrist: How it Pays for Dishonest Employers to Take Advantage of Workers.” The report details how current low federal fines allow employers to profit from wage theft, illegal child labor, unsafe worksites, and union-busting. The report comes as House Education and Workforce Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-VA) introduced the “Labor Enforcement to Securely (LETS) Protect Workers Act.” The legislation would: (1) raise civil monetary penalties across minimum wage and overtime, child labor, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and farmworker protection laws; (2) set penalties for retaliation against workers using FMLA; (3) strengthen mental health parity enforcement in employer health plans; (4) close OSHA’s six-month injury-recordkeeping loophole; and (6) create National Labor Relations Act penalties aligned with the “Protecting the Right to Organize Act.”
