Braun
Senator Mike Braun (R-Ind.) and Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.-21) last Friday introduced the Ensuring Workers Get PAID Act of 2023 to ensure America’s workers receive the wages they are owed and help employers comply with the law.
In 2018, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) launched the Payroll Audit Independent Determination (PAID) pilot program to provide an efficient method for employers to proactively rectify inadvertent overtime and minimum wage violations. This resulted in employees receiving 100 percent of the back wages they were owed in a timelier manner. But the Biden Administration has claimed it deprived workers of their rights and abruptly ended the PAID program in January 2021.
Stefanik and Braun are working to reinstate and codify the PAID program so this tool will stay in practice to support both employers and employees.
“The PAID program has been successful in helping employers correct inadvertent wage and hour violations on their own to ensure employees are getting paid the wages they have earned,” Sen. Braun said. “The Ensuring Workers Get PAID Act will bring this program back so workers receive their full wages in a timely manner and business owners are able to keep their businesses in compliance with the law.”
The Ensuring Workers Get PAID Act would specifically:
- Help more workers receive the wages they earned when employers make mistakes,
- Encourage employers to self-audit pay practices to correct mistakes and quickly deliver any back wages owed to employees,
- Allow employees to receive any unpaid minimum wage or overtime compensation faster and without litigation, and
- Protect employee rights and leave the decision to resolve identified violations in the hands of each employee.
Stefanik and Braun were joined by Representatives Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa), Jim Baird (R-Ind.), Pat Fallon (R-Texas), Chuck Edwards (R-N.C.), and Tracey Mann (R-Kan.) in introducing this legislation.
National Retail Federation, National Federation of Independent Business, International Franchise Association, Heritage Action, FreedomWorks, HR Policy Association, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Institute for the American Worker, Americans for Tax Reform, Open Competition Center, National Association of Wholesaler-Distributers have endorsed this legislation.