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27 Comp. Lab. L. & Pol'y. J. 59 (2005-2006)
Why Complain-Complaints, Compliance, and the Problem of Enforcement in the U.S. Workplace

handle is hein.journals/cllpj27 and id is 73 raw text is: WHY COMPLAIN? COMPLAINTS, COMPLIANCE, AND THE PROBLEM OF ENFORCEMENT IN THE U.S. WORKPLACE David Weilt and Amanda Pylestt I. WHY WE SHOULD CARE ABOUT COMPLAINTS The conventional image of government regulation of the workplace is of inspectors sent out to factories, construction sites, and service establishments, seeking to ensure that employers comply with promulgated standards. This image fits the statutory framework of many federal workplace standards: government agencies like the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) or the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the U.S. Department of Labor seek to increase compliance with standards by dispatching their inspectors across different industries and geographic areas. However, critical to that enforcement process, agency staff are deployed either through the planned inspection activities of agencies or in response to complaints lodged by workers under those statutes. Because of limitations in available resources in many agencies, and the often politicized environment surrounding regulatory decisions, complaint activities have become in many cases the primary driver of enforcement activity. For example, in 2004, complaint inspections constituted about 78% of all inspections undertaken by the WHD, the agency within the U.S. Department of Labor in charge of enforcing t Associate Professor of Economics, School of Management, Boston University, and Research Fellow, Taubman Center, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. This paper contains research that has been partially funded by a contract from the U.S. Department of Labor and Mathematica Policy Research, under contract No. GS10FOO50L, Order No. DOLQ049601212. The findings and conclusions do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Department of Labor, Mathematica Policy Research, or any specific agency mentioned in the article. We are grateful to Libby Hendrix of the Wage and Hour Division for her insights on issues related to this paper. tt Program Analyst, School of Management, Boston University.

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