Wills & Trusts News

2005 Labor Budget Will Enhance Labor Law Enforcement, Protect Workforce Health and Security, Labor Officials Testify

WASHINGTON—U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) officials said today they will continue to focus on targeted enforcement and on compliance assistance to help employers understand and comply with U.S. labor laws. Five department officials discussed these and other priorities in the department’s proposed FY 2005 budget for worker protection agencies in a hearing before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies.

Those testifying on behalf of DOL agencies were: Employment Standards Administration Assistant Secretary Victoria A. Lipnic; Deputy Under Secretary for International Labor Affairs Arnold Levine; Employee Benefits Security Administration Assistant Secretary Ann L. Combs; Mine Safety and Health Assistant Secretary Dave D. Lauriski; and Occupational Safety and Health Assistant Secretary John Henshaw.

Following are some highlights from their testimony:

Employment Standards Administration (ESA)

ESA’s Lipnic testified that the department’s budget request for ESA, DOL’s largest agency, is nearly $5.0 billion, including $527.6 million for administrative costs and $4.4 billion for workers’ compensation benefit costs.

ESA, which is responsible for administering laws governing wages and working conditions, will continue to focus on enforcement as well as compliance assistance. For example, funding for low-wage industry enforcement increases by $1.1 million and 12 full-time positions in order to expand the enforcement success the agency has had in targeting low-wage industries such as garment manufacturing, health, and agriculture, to other low-wage industries. This expanded approach will increase workplace protections for the most vulnerable workers.

The agency is committed to building on its recent record of success, including total back wages and overtime collected for workers. In FY 2003 total back wages collected increased 21 percent over FY 2002, representing an 11-year high. The number of workers who received back wages as a result of DOL investigations increased by nearly 30 percent over FY 2002, from 263,593 workers to 342,358. Read more at dol.gov

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