With the holiday season in high gear, businesses large and small are hiring extra help to handle all the additional shoppers. It’s good news for the economy and for Americans looking to tuck a few extra dollars in their pockets — but the U.S. Department of Labor wants to make sure employees know their rights, and that businesses understand their obligations under the law.

What You Need To Know

  • The Department of Labor's Wage and Hour division is reminding workers of their rights amid the rush of holiday hiring

  • Seasonal employees should make no less than the federal minimum wage and are elligible for overtime after 40 hours

  • Both employers and employees can reach the WHD with questions about federal regulations at 1-866-487-9243

“The number one violation that we see when we do our enforcement work in the Wage and Hour Division is that employees are working more than 40 hours, and then they're not getting time and a half overtime when they work that more than 40 hours,” said Jessica Looman, the administrator of the Wage and Hour division. “So they need to know that they're getting the minimum wage, they need to know that they should be getting overtime over 40.”

Looman’s department is tasked with making sure that workers are being paid at least $7.25 an hour, the current federal minimum wage, and that they are working in safe environments. But Looman also doesn’t want the WHD to be seen as a boogeyman for business owners.

“Most employers absolutely want to get it right,” Looman explained to Spectrum News. “We really encourage employers to understand what their obligations are under the law, that's important, but also to just call us and call us if they have any questions.”

If a business owner or manager contacts the WHD, Looman stressed that is a confidential contact, and that the division is “not going to open up an investigation or start an enforcement action just because they call us for help.”

“The number one goal is to make sure that we get through this holiday season without any violations happening in the first place,” Looman added. 

Another warning Looman said businesses should heed is child labor laws. The Department of Labor and members of Congress have sounded the alarm earlier this year about child labor concerns, and Looman says that it’s important parents know the law around their child’s employment restrictions as well.

“We just want to make sure that employers recognize that they have special responsibilities if they're going to employ kids, and that includes not employing them beyond the hours that they're allowed to work under the law, and then also making sure that they're only working in safe environments for kids,” said Looman.

Too many work hours for child workers are a red flag, for sure, she said — but keeping kids out of harmful situations is just as much a concern for the department.

"It's working with dangerous equipment it's working with, you know, fryers, or baking equipment or in construction, or those kinds of areas where kids could be really exposed to a hazard," Looman said.

For information on worker’s rights or resources for employers, you can head to the WHD website, or call the division at 1-866-487-9243.