Episode 242: The Labor Department Announces Bold Plans To Beef Up Wage & Hour Audits

As the monthly jobs report comes out today signaling that there is a rebound in hiring, it appears to be the Labor Department itself that is hiring as well - as many as 100 new auditors in the Wage & Hour Division it was announced this week. What will those new employees be doing? Cracking down on violators but with a specific interest in the hospitality sector. We’ll discuss what employers need to know. And Uber is proactively working with the provincial government in Ontario to basically create a new classification of worker - not independent contractor and not traditional employee - but a hybrid with a portable benefits regime. We’ll dive into that and discuss those implications. And of course we’ll have another installment of Starbucks Watch. But this week Amazon, REI and a host of independent coffee shops will be on the menu as well. We will update you on the latest with regard to industry unionization efforts. We’ll discuss those issues and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.