We know individually how inflation has affected our lives: rising prices on food, fuel and more. We also see it affects our cost of benefits, and even our pay (as employers provide pay increases to keep pay levels competitive). The point is that inflation can change the value of the almighty dollar.
It is based on this reality that Congress had passed the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 2015 which requires federal agencies to adjust their civil penalties annually to account for inflation. Customarily, those adjustments are released no later than January 15th to be applied for that calendar year.
Well, these adjustments are out and given the inflation volatility of 2023, the civil penalty increases are somewhat striking in some cases. Below is a breakdown of some of these increases:
| Violation: | 2023: | 2024: |
| Child Labor violations under FLSA | $15,138 per violation | $15,629 per violation |
| Employee Polygraph Protection Act violations: | $24,793 per violation | $25,597 per violation |
| FMLA notice violations | $204 per offense | $211 per offense |
| FLSA (for repeated willful violations of min. wage and OT) | $2,374 per violation | $2,451 per violation |
| OSHA (for serious and other-than-serious violations) | $15,625 per violation | $16,131 per violation |
| OSHA (for willful or repeated violations) | $156,259 per violation | $161,323 per violation |
| Failing to file Form 5500 | $2,586 per day | $2,670 per day |
| Failing to provide Summary of Benefits and Coverage – SBC | $1,362 per failure | $1,406 per failure |
As you can see failure to stay on top of compliance related matters can prove costly as the penalties continue to rise as the years go by. Remember if you have questions about your HR-related practices, give EANE’s hotline a call.