Compliance Stuff

NOTICE: On March 14, 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order 14236, “Additional Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions,” ( 90 FR 13037 ), which revoked, among other items, Executive Order 14026 of April 27, 2021, “Increasing the Minimum Wage for Federal Contractors” ( 86 FR 22835 ). Pursuant to section 2(d) of Executive Order 14236, the Department of Labor is no longer enforcing Executive Order 14026 or the implementing rule (29 CFR part 23) and will take steps, including rescinding 29 CFR part 23, to implement and effectuate the revocation of Executive Order 14026. On February 9, 2026, the Department of Labor published a notice in the Federal Register announcing that, beginning May 11, 2026, the Executive Order 13658 minimum wage rate will increase to $13.65 per hour for non-tipped employees performing work on or in connection with covered contracts, and to $9.55 per hour for tipped employees performing such work ( 91 FR 5783 ). The Executive Order 13658 minimum...

The US Department of Labor’s latest update rewards employers that proactively resolve potential wage and hour claims and obtain approval of their investigation and resolution . The DOL’s Wage and Hour Division first introduced the Payroll Audit Independent Determination (PAID) Program in 2018 , but it was shut down in 2021. Yesterday’s news that the program has now officially returned follows several other big changes from the DOL: the  reboot  last month of the opinion letter program, a general reduction in WHD staffing levels, and  an announcement  earlier this month that it would not seek liquidated damages in pre-litigation settlements. T he PAID program’s revival highlights the value of employer self-audits and proactive handling of potential wage claims. Here’s what you need to know about it and how it might benefit your organization. Background The  2018 PAID program  was instituted to encourage self-audits of pay practices, and applied to Fair Labor...