{"id":428324,"date":"2011-05-23T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-05-23T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/05\/23\/smartphone-app-empowers-workers-to-track-wages\/"},"modified":"2011-05-23T06:00:00","modified_gmt":"2011-05-23T06:00:00","slug":"smartphone-app-empowers-workers-to-track-wages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/23\/smartphone-app-empowers-workers-to-track-wages\/","title":{"rendered":"Smartphone app empowers workers to track wages"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n<\/p>\n

WASHINGTON: Workers who don\u2019t trust the boss to keep track of their wages can now do it themselves with a new smartphone application from the Department of Labour.<\/span><\/p>\n

But employers worry that the time sheet app, along with other new initiatives, could encourage even more wage and hour lawsuits, the Associated Press reported on Saturday.<\/span><\/p>\n

The app, called DOL-Timesheet, allows workers calculate regular work hours, break time and overtime pay to create their own wage records. Department officials say the information could prove valuable in a dispute over pay or during a government investigation when an employer has failed to keep accurate records.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis app will help empower workers to understand and stand up for their rights when employers have denied their hard-earned pay,\u201d Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The app is the latest example of the Obama administration\u2019s push for more aggressive enforcement of wage and hour laws. The agency has hired about 300 more investigators to probe complaints of unpaid work time, lack of overtime pay and minimum wage violations.<\/span><\/p>\n

Last year, the agency began a \u201cBridge to Justice\u201d program that, for the first time, helps connect aggrieved workers with private lawyers if the department\u2019s Wage and Hour Division is too busy to handle a complaint.<\/span><\/p>\n

As a result, legal experts say, wage and hour compliance has become a leading concern for employers as the new policies help drive up litigation over unpaid wages, also known as wage theft.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe government is focusing on it like never before,\u201d said Gerald Maatman, an employer-side labour lawyer based in Chicago. \u201cI think the mantra is kind of, `All enforcement, all the time, 24\/7.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Workers brought a record number of wage and hour suits against employers last year, according to an analysis of court filings by Maatman\u2019s firm, Seyfarth Shaw. Nearly 6,800 such suits were filed in 2010, about 700 more than the previous year. Most were collective or class actions.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe concern is that the Department of Labor is putting a lot more attention into this area and employers, at the same time, are putting more hours, more money and more work into auditing and complying with wage and hour laws,\u201d Maatman said. \u201cIt\u2019s turning into somewhat of a full-time job.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The stepped up enforcement is a change from the Bush administration, when some critics accused President George W. Bush\u2019s labour secretary, Elaine Chao, of favouring businesses and weakening job safety and enforcement efforts.<\/span><\/p>\n

While employers are not surprised about increased enforcement, they have questioned some tactics, such as a program that gives workers a toll-free number to contact an attorney referral service run by the American Bar Association.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/p>\n

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\nSmartphone app empowers workers to track wages<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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