DOL Wage & Hour Enforcement Search

Search the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division (WHD) enforcement database for labor law violations, back wages, civil penalties, and employee impact data across 20+ federal statutes. Access detailed case-level breakdowns covering FLSA minimum wage and overtime, child labor, FMLA, H-1B/H-2A/H-2B visa programs, Davis-Bacon prevailing wages, and more.

What does DOL Wage & Hour Enforcement Search do?

This actor queries the official DOL API (v4) to retrieve enforcement action records from the Wage and Hour Division, the federal agency responsible for enforcing compliance with major U.S. labor laws. The WHD database contains hundreds of thousands of investigation records spanning decades, covering every U.S. state and territory.

Each enforcement record contains the full details of a DOL investigation: the company investigated, location, industry classification, the specific statutes violated, number of violations found, total back wages owed to employees, civil monetary penalties assessed, and how many workers were affected. Violation data is broken down by individual statute so you can see exactly which laws were violated and the financial impact of each.

The actor supports filtering by company name, geographic location, industry (NAICS code), specific statute, date range, minimum back wage or penalty thresholds, and whether the employer is a repeat FLSA violator. Results are sorted by back wages owed in descending order so the most significant cases appear first.

A dry run mode (enabled by default) returns realistic sample data without making any API calls, letting you explore the output format before committing to a DOL API key.

Features

• 20+ statute coverage -- Search violations across FLSA, FMLA, H-1B, H-2A, H-2B, SCA, Davis-Bacon, MSPA, CWHSSA, EPPA, and FLSA Child Labor provisions
• Per-statute breakdowns -- Every case includes a statuteBreakdowns array showing violations, back wages, employees affected, and penalties for each applicable law
• FLSA detail fields -- Separate fields for minimum wage back wages vs. overtime back wages; repeat violator flag
• Child labor tracking -- Dedicated fields for child labor violation count, minors involved, and penalties assessed
• Flexible filtering -- Filter by company name (partial match), state, city, NAICS industry code, statute, date range, minimum dollar thresholds, and repeat violator status
• Automatic pagination -- Transparently fetches up to 5,000 records across multiple API pages
• Rate limit handling -- Built-in exponential backoff with retries on 429 responses
• Dry run mode -- Returns sample data by default so you can test integrations without an API key
• Results summary -- Logs aggregate statistics including top states, top statutes, totals for back wages, penalties, and employees affected

How to use

1. Get a free DOL API key

Register at https://dataportal.dol.gov/registration to obtain your free API key. The key is issued immediately upon registration.

2. Try with dry run mode first

Run the actor with default settings (no API key needed). The dryRun option is enabled by default and returns sample enforcement records so you can inspect the output format and test your downstream integrations.

3. Run with real data

Set dryRun to false, enter your DOL API key, and configure your search filters. The actor will query the live DOL enforcement database and return matching cases sorted by total back wages (highest first).

4. Export results

Results are stored in the Apify dataset and can be downloaded in JSON, CSV, Excel, or other formats. Use the Apify API or integrations to feed data into Google Sheets, webhooks, or other systems.

Input parameters

Output format

Each enforcement record in the output dataset contains the following fields:

{
  "caseId": 2145892,
  "tradeName": "PACIFIC COAST STAFFING INC",
  "legalName": "PACIFIC COAST STAFFING INC",
  "streetAddress": "2901 W COAST HWY STE 200",
  "city": "NEWPORT BEACH",
  "state": "CA",
  "zipCode": "92663",
  "naicsCode": "561320",
  "naicsDescription": "Temporary Help Services",
  "totalViolations": 18,
  "totalPenalties": 42750,
  "employeesViolated": 156,
  "totalBackWages": 287634.50,
  "employeesOwedBackWages": 156,
  "findingsStartDate": "2023-03-15T00:00:00",
  "findingsEndDate": "2024-08-22T00:00:00",
  "flsaRepeatViolator": true,
  "statuteBreakdowns": [
    {
      "statute": "FLSA",
      "statuteName": "Fair Labor Standards Act",
      "violations": 14,
      "backWages": 251200.00,
      "employeesAffected": 142,
      "penalties": 35000
    },
    {
      "statute": "FLSA_CL",
      "statuteName": "FLSA Child Labor",
      "violations": 3,
      "backWages": 0,
      "employeesAffected": 0,
      "penalties": 7750
    },
    {
      "statute": "FMLA",
      "statuteName": "Family and Medical Leave Act",
      "violations": 1,
      "backWages": 36434.50,
      "employeesAffected": 14,
      "penalties": 0
    }
  ],
  "flsaMinimumWageBackWages": 98400.00,
  "flsaOvertimeBackWages": 152800.00,
  "childLaborViolations": 3,
  "childLaborMinorsInvolved": 3,
  "childLaborPenalties": 7750,
  "extractedAt": "2026-02-25T14:30:00.000Z"
}

Field reference

Example use cases

1. Restaurant industry compliance audit

Search for FLSA violations in the food service industry to identify patterns of wage theft. Set naicsCode to 722 (Food Services and Drinking Places) and statute to flsa to find restaurants that failed to pay minimum wage or overtime.

2. H-1B visa program enforcement tracking

Monitor DOL enforcement of H-1B visa labor condition requirements. Filter by statute: h1b to find employers that violated wage and working condition obligations for H-1B workers. Cross-reference with the H-1B Visa Intelligence actor for complete visa program analysis.

3. Child labor violation monitoring

Track employers investigated for child labor violations. Set statute to flsa_cl and use minPenalties to focus on significant cases. The output includes the number of minors involved and penalties assessed.

4. Federal construction prevailing wage compliance

Search Davis-Bacon Act (DBRA) enforcement actions against federal construction contractors. Set statute to dbra and naicsCode to 236 (Construction of Buildings) or 237 (Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction). Combine with SAM.gov data to identify contractors with compliance issues.

5. State-level enforcement analysis

Generate state-by-state enforcement reports for labor policy research. Set state to any 2-letter code and use date filters to analyze trends over time. The results summary logs aggregate statistics for quick analysis.

6. Repeat violator identification

Find employers with a history of FLSA violations by enabling repeatViolator. These are companies the DOL has flagged for repeated non-compliance, which may indicate systemic labor law issues.

7. Agricultural worker protection research

Track enforcement of migrant and seasonal worker protections under MSPA and the H-2A visa program. Set statute to mspa or h2a and filter by agricultural NAICS codes (e.g., 111 for Crop Production, 112 for Animal Production) to find cases involving vulnerable worker populations.

8. High-value back wage investigations

Identify the largest wage theft cases by setting a high minBackWages threshold (e.g., 100000 for cases exceeding $100,000). Results are sorted by back wages descending, making it easy to find the most impactful enforcement actions.

Statutes reference

The WHD enforces the following major statutes. Use the statute filter value to search for violations under a specific law.

NAICS industry codes reference

The following NAICS (North American Industry Classification System) codes are commonly associated with WHD enforcement actions. Use the naicsCode parameter with a 2-6 digit prefix.

Limitations and data freshness

• API key required for real data. The dry run mode returns sample records. To access the actual DOL enforcement database, you must register for a free API key at dataportal.dol.gov/registration.
• Data update frequency. The DOL enforcement database is updated periodically by the agency. There may be a lag of several weeks between the conclusion of an investigation and its appearance in the database.
• Historical coverage. The database contains enforcement records dating back several decades, though older records may have fewer detail fields populated.
• Rate limits. The DOL API enforces rate limits. The actor includes built-in retry logic with exponential backoff for 429 (rate limited) responses. Large queries (thousands of results) may take longer due to pagination delays.
• 5,000 record cap. A single actor run can retrieve up to 5,000 records. For larger datasets, use multiple runs with different filter criteria (e.g., split by state or date range).
• Company name matching. The companyName filter uses partial/wildcard matching against the trade name field. Companies may appear under multiple names or spellings across different cases.
• Penalty and back wage amounts. Dollar amounts reflect assessed values at the time of investigation and may differ from final settlement amounts after administrative or judicial proceedings.
• Statute-specific field availability. Not all statutes have penalty fields in the DOL data. For example, SCA, H-2B, DBRA, and CWHSSA cases may show 0 for penalties even when violations were found.

Responsible use

This actor provides access to public government enforcement data published by the U.S. Department of Labor. When using this data:

• Verify before acting. Enforcement records reflect investigation findings and assessed penalties, not final adjudicated outcomes. Companies may have contested findings or reached different settlement terms.
• Provide context. A single enforcement case does not necessarily indicate ongoing or systemic compliance failures. Consider the full picture, including the date of the investigation, the company's size, and whether corrective action was taken.
• Respect privacy. While company names and addresses are public record, exercise judgment when publishing or sharing enforcement data, particularly for small businesses.
• Stay current. Cross-reference DOL enforcement data with other public sources (OSHA, EPA, SAM.gov) for a more complete compliance picture.
• Comply with DOL API terms. Use of the DOL API is subject to the DOL Data Portal Terms of Use. The API key is free but must not be shared or used to overload the service.

Integrations and API access

Apify API

You can run this actor and retrieve results programmatically using the Apify API:

# Start a run
curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/ryanclinton~dol-whd-enforcement/runs" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -d '{
    "dryRun": false,
    "apiKey": "YOUR_DOL_API_KEY",
    "state": "CA",
    "statute": "flsa",
    "minBackWages": 10000,
    "maxResults": 200
  }'

Apify integrations

Connect DOL enforcement data to your existing tools:

• Google Sheets -- Automatically export enforcement records to a spreadsheet for analysis and reporting
• Slack / Microsoft Teams -- Send notifications when new enforcement actions match your criteria
• Webhooks -- Trigger downstream workflows when new data is available
• Zapier / Make -- Build automated workflows that combine DOL data with other data sources
• Amazon S3 / Google Cloud Storage -- Archive enforcement data to cloud storage for long-term analysis

Scheduled monitoring

Set up the actor on a recurring schedule to monitor enforcement activity in specific states, industries, or against specific companies. Use Apify's scheduling feature to run daily, weekly, or monthly with the same filter parameters.

Python client example

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN")

run_input = {
    "dryRun": False,
    "apiKey": "YOUR_DOL_API_KEY",
    "companyName": "MCDONALD",
    "state": "TX",
    "statute": "flsa",
    "dateFrom": "2023-01-01",
    "maxResults": 500,
}

run = client.actor("ryanclinton/dol-whd-enforcement").call(run_input=run_input)

for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(f"{item['tradeName']} - {item['city']}, {item['state']}")
    print(f"  Back Wages: ${item['totalBackWages']:,.2f}")
    print(f"  Penalties: ${item['totalPenalties']:,.2f}")
    print(f"  Employees Affected: {item['employeesViolated']}")
    for breakdown in item["statuteBreakdowns"]:
        print(f"  {breakdown['statuteName']}: {breakdown['violations']} violations")

JavaScript/Node.js client example

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: 'YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN' });

const run = await client.actor('ryanclinton/dol-whd-enforcement').call({
    dryRun: false,
    apiKey: 'YOUR_DOL_API_KEY',
    naicsCode: '722',
    statute: 'flsa_cl',
    minPenalties: 5000,
    maxResults: 100,
});

const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();

for (const item of items) {
    console.log(`${item.tradeName} (${item.city}, ${item.state})`);
    console.log(`  Child Labor Violations: ${item.childLaborViolations}`);
    console.log(`  Minors Involved: ${item.childLaborMinorsInvolved}`);
    console.log(`  Child Labor Penalties: $${item.childLaborPenalties.toLocaleString()}`);
}

Related actors

These actors from the Apify Store complement DOL enforcement data for broader compliance and regulatory research:

• OSHA Inspection & Citation Search -- Search OSHA workplace safety inspection records, citations, and penalties. Combine with WHD data for a complete labor compliance profile.
• H-1B Visa Intelligence -- Search H-1B visa application data including employer petitions, wages, and approval rates. Cross-reference with WHD H-1B enforcement actions.
• CFPB Consumer Complaints -- Search consumer financial complaints. Useful alongside DOL data for evaluating company-wide compliance posture.
• SAM.gov Contract Monitor -- Search federal contract awards and entity registrations. Identify federal contractors with WHD enforcement actions (relevant for DBRA and SCA violations).
• Federal Register Search -- Search the Federal Register for proposed and final rules from DOL and other agencies. Track regulatory changes that affect wage and hour enforcement.
• Senate Lobbying Search -- Search lobbying disclosure records. Research industry lobbying related to labor law and wage/hour policy.
• Congressional Stock Trade Tracker -- Track stock trades by members of Congress. Analyze alongside enforcement trends in specific industries.
• EPA ECHO Environmental Compliance -- Search EPA environmental compliance and enforcement data. Build multi-agency compliance profiles by combining EPA, DOL, and OSHA data.