Table 2
Wage and hour enforcement on farms during the first two years of the Biden administration: Number of investigations in agriculture, employees receiving back wages, total back wages assessed, back wages per employee, and civil money penalties, fiscal years 2021–2022
| Fiscal Year | Number of investigations in agriculture | Employees receiving back wages | Back wages assessed (2022$) | Average back wages per employee (2022$) | Civil money penalties assessed (2022$) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1,000 | 10,379 | $9,107,258 | $877 | $7,887,306 |
| 2022 | 879 | 8,260 | $5,815,943 | $704 | $7,983,598 |
| TOTALS | 1,879 | 18,639 | $14,923,202 | – | $15,870,904 |
| AVERAGE ANNUAL | 940 | 9,320 | $7,461,601 | $791 | $7,935,452 |
Note: Dollar amounts reported have been adjusted for inflation to constant 2022 dollars using the CPI-U-RS. As a result, the dollar amounts presented here may differ from the amounts reported in the source data.
Source: Authors’ analysis of U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, Agriculture data table (last accessed February 26, 2023).
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