Summary: About six million Americans--more than 65 percent of them women--were earning the minimum wage or less at the end of 1991, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Federal minimum wage and overtime laws provide an important protection for these workers. GAO testified that statutory weaknesses identified in previous GAO reports and by the Department of Labor's Inspector General continue to impede enforcement of these laws. These weaknesses include (1) lack of civil monetary penalties for failure to keep adequate payroll records, (2) reliance on litigation-dependent enforcement procedures rather than more expedient formal administrative procedures, and (3) a statute of limitations that allows the back wages due employees to be reduced while Labor investigates or negotiates with the employer. In addition, Labor lacks information confirming the effectiveness of its procedures for obtaining back wages due employees. It cannot provide reliable information on the amount of agreed-upon back wages employees actually collected or what actions it has taken on cases in which employers refused to pay back wages.
