Miscommunication and poor coordination of staff and resources are hampering the U.S. Labor Department's Wage and Hour Division (WHD), according to testimony during a hearing last week before the House Education and Labor Committee.

The findings are based on information about WHD practices from a General Accounting Office (GAO) report and testimony before the committee. The WHD is charged with protecting basic rights of U.S. workers by enforcing the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

During her testimony to the committee, Anne-Marie Lasowski, the GAO’s action director of education, workforce and income security, said that the number of enforcement actions conducted by the agency dropped about 30 percent, from roughly 47,000 in 1997 to less than 30,000 in 2007. WHD officials say the drop is due in part to more comprehensive and in-depth investigations, better screening, and staff reductions.

Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., who chairs the Education and Labor Committee, had requested the GAO reports. He says that in some cases, WHD has failed to pursue employers that skirt the laws.

Source: “DOL Faulted on Enforcement of Wage and Hour Laws,” by Bill Leonard, Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).