The U.S. Department of Labor and the Southeast Louisiana Building & Construction Trades Council announced that they've established a partnership to improve industry compliance. The partnership will help both organizations cross-train staff, ease outreach efforts, and identify possible labor violations. It will also expand information sharing and create opportunities to inform workers about their legal protections and improve employer awareness of their obligations.
The Wage & Hour Division's New Orleans district office should be commended for their initiative championing private enterprise solutions of the non-profit sector in partnership with the first, in order to address the anti-competitive compliance market failures of wage theft and independent contractor misclassification plaguing law-abiding contractors, marginalized construction workers, and the perennial workforce development goals of historically disadvantaged communities.
Government and civil society have complimentary capacities that, when combined, can significantly improve labor standards enforcement and the job satisfaction of line investigators. Co-produced enforcement drawing upon the complementary strengths of the 1st and 3rd sectors to develop strategies and jointly engage in monitoring and enforcement is needed to raise compliance levels. Doing so is consistent with America’s deeply rooted entrepreneurial approach to public policy with limited government involvement.