It seems to have become fashionable for
government to automate its operations. Generally, efficiency is a good thing, but some of us depend on governmental
inertia to survive Big Brother. Back in 1990, Congress required executive
agencies (like NASA and the Department of Labor) to increase their financial
penalties (some of which had been established before the Beatles invaded
America) to reflect inflation. Congress
took that a step further in 2015 to require annual
adjustments based on inflation. Specifically, the Federal Civil Penalties
Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990 as amended by the Federal Civil Penalties
Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 requires the DOL to increase
penalties for inflation on an annual basis.
On January 2, 2018, the DOL
published the new list of fines.
They include (but are not limited to):
◦ FMLA: “An employer that
willfully violates the posting requirement may be assessed a civil money
penalty by the Wage and Hour Division not to exceed $169 for each
separate offense.
◦
ERISA: If any person who is required,
under subsection (a), to furnish information or maintain records for any plan
year fails to comply with such requirement, he shall pay to the Secretary a
civil penalty of $28 for each employee with respect to whom such failure
occurs, unless it is shown that such failure is due to reasonable cause.
◦
ERISA: The Secretary may assess a civil
penalty against any plan administrator of up to $2,097 a day from the
date of such plan administrator’s failure or refusal to file the annual report
required to be filed with the Secretary under section 1021(b)(1) of this title.
◦
ERISA: The Secretary
may assess a civil penalty against any employer of up to $112 a day from
the date of the employer’s failure to meet the notice requirement of section
1181(f)(3)(B)(i)(I) of this title [re: CHIP]. For purposes of this
subparagraph, each violation with respect to any single employee shall be
treated as a separate violation.
◦
OSHA:
Serious and Other-than-Serious Violations increased to $12,675 and
willful and repeated increased to $126,749
◦
FLSA: A penalty of up to $1,925 per
violation may be assessed against any person who repeatedly or willfully
violates section 6 (minimum wage) or section 7 (overtime) of the Act. The
amount of the penalty will be determined by applying the criteria in § 578.4.
NOTICE:
This summary is designed merely to inform and alert you of recent legal
developments. It does not constitute legal advice and does not apply to any
particular situation because different facts could lead to different results.
Information here can be changed or amended without notice. Readers should
not act upon this information without legal advice. If you have any questions
about anything you have read, you should consult with or retain an employment
attorney.