Enforcement of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and other employment laws: Back wages and civil monetary penalties assessed by the Wage and Hour Division resulting from FLSA and other violations, fiscal years 2000–2019
| Fiscal Year | Cases with violations | Total other violations (excluding OSHA) | Average violations per case | Employees receiving back wages | Back wages ($2019) | Average back wages per employee ($2019) | Civil monetary penalties assessed ($2019) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total or Average | 9,330 | 114,209 | 12 | 71,574 | $41,741,836 | $583 | $5,812,536 |
| 2000 | 490 | 5,594 | 11 | 3,405 | $1,686,714 | $495 | $469,463 |
| 2001 | 399 | 4,254 | 11 | 3,023 | $1,290,809 | $427 | $252,743 |
| 2002 | 437 | 4,917 | 11 | 3,234 | $2,046,841 | $633 | $219,876 |
| 2003 | 386 | 6,320 | 16 | 5,467 | $2,523,629 | $462 | $196,580 |
| 2004 | 401 | 3,733 | 9 | 2,383 | $1,094,632 | $459 | $498,793 |
| 2005 | 366 | 2,521 | 7 | 1,810 | $1,143,251 | $632 | $184,230 |
| 2006 | 351 | 2,944 | 8 | 1,895 | $1,675,186 | $884 | $106,720 |
| 2007 | 426 | 6,422 | 15 | 5,589 | $3,173,022 | $568 | $153,886 |
| 2008 | 396 | 3,032 | 8 | 2,372 | $1,390,051 | $586 | $121,955 |
| 2009 | 422 | 3,438 | 8 | 2,133 | $808,472 | $379 | $134,786 |
| 2010 | 406 | 12,166 | 30 | 6,424 | $2,890,384 | $450 | $83,953 |
| 2011 | 450 | 4,364 | 10 | 2,958 | $1,859,571 | $629 | $146,359 |
| 2012 | 531 | 6,300 | 12 | 4,743 | $3,023,412 | $637 | $235,441 |
| 2013 | 641 | 6,685 | 10 | 3,637 | $2,860,367 | $786 | $362,770 |
| 2014 | 608 | 5,838 | 10 | 4,309 | $2,574,113 | $597 | $382,899 |
| 2015 | 566 | 8,345 | 15 | 4,855 | $2,230,751 | $459 | $264,208 |
| 2016 | 580 | 11,226 | 19 | 5,316 | $2,890,541 | $544 | $336,169 |
| 2017 | 561 | 4,322 | 8 | 2,635 | $2,523,721 | $958 | $453,201 |
| 2018 | 477 | 5,049 | 11 | 2,491 | $1,704,014 | $684 | $704,590 |
| 2019 | 436 | 6,739 | 15 | 2,895 | $2,352,358 | $813 | $503,914 |
Note: Violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) are grouped together with other violations in the DOL data we utilized, except for MSPA and H-2A violations, therefore we cannot distinguish FLSA violations from other employment law violations (other than MSPA and H-2A, which are presented in Tables 1 and 2). Dollar amounts reported in this table have been adjusted for inflation to constant 2019 dollars using the CPI-U-RS. As a result, the dollar amounts presented here may differ from the amounts reported in the source data. Totals may not sum due to rounding.
Source: Authors’ analysis of U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, Agriculture data table (U.S. DOL-WHD 2020a).
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