U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage Hour Division Expands Staff in Alaska Interior Region

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – The U.S. Department of Labor has placed a Wage and Hour Division investigator in Fairbanks, Alaska, to enhance its outreach and enforcement activities, and to ensure compliance with federal labor laws in the Alaska Interior Region.

The Department added the position to maintain an enforcement presence in the region during a period of unprecedented military growth. The Alaska Economic Trends report issued in January 2018 suggests that projects related to two new squadrons of F-35s planned for Eielson Air Force Base will spur hundreds of millions of dollars in new construction projects for the Fairbanks area. In response, the Division seeks to ensure employers pay prevailing wages to those employed on federally funded projects, and to raise awareness of - and compliance with - a myriad of federal labor laws, including the Davis Bacon and Service Contract Acts.

"Our Fairbanks presence will help to keep pace with the increase in labor that comes with increased military infrastructure spending," said Wage and Hour Regional Administrator Ruben Rosalez, in San Francisco. "A strong education and enforcement program helps to ensure that businesses and contractors comply with federal labor laws."

The new Alaskan resource in Fairbanks expands WHD's presence beyond Anchorage. Investigators in Alaska report to the WHD District Office in Seattle, Washington. Employers, employees, or others interested in contacting the Division in Fairbanks should call (206) 398-8039.

Employers that discover overtime or minimum wage violations may self-report and resolve those violations without litigation through the PAID program. For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the Wage and Hour Division, contact the Division's toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information is also available at https://www.dol.gov/whd including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the Division.