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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 216. Penalties
(a) Fines and imprisonment
Any person who willfully violates any of the provisions of
section 215 of this title shall upon conviction thereof be subject
to a fine of not more than $10,000, or to imprisonment for not more
than six months, or both. No person shall be imprisoned under this
subsection except for an offense committed after the conviction of
such person for a prior offense under this subsection.
(b) Damages; right of action; attorney's fees and costs;
termination of right of action
Any employer who violates the provisions of section 206 or
section 207 of this title shall be liable to the employee or
employees affected in the amount of their unpaid minimum wages, or
their unpaid overtime compensation, as the case may be, and in an
additional equal amount as liquidated damages. Any employer who
violates the provisions of section 215(a)(3) of this title shall be
liable for such legal or equitable relief as may be appropriate to
effectuate the purposes of section 215(a)(3) of this title,
including without limitation employment, reinstatement, promotion,
and the payment of wages lost and an additional equal amount as
liquidated damages. An action to recover the liability prescribed
in either of the preceding sentences may be maintained against any
employer (including a public agency) in any Federal or State court
of competent jurisdiction by any one or more employees for and in
behalf of himself or themselves and other employees similarly
situated. No employee shall be a party plaintiff to any such action
unless he gives his consent in writing to become such a party and
such consent is filed in the court in which such action is brought.
The court in such action shall, in addition to any judgment awarded
to the plaintiff or plaintiffs, allow a reasonable attorney's fee
to be paid by the defendant, and costs of the action. The right
provided by this subsection to bring an action by or on behalf of
any employee, and the right of any employee to become a party
plaintiff to any such action, shall terminate upon the filing of a
complaint by the Secretary of Labor in an action under section 217
of this title in which (1) restraint is sought of any further delay
in the payment of unpaid minimum wages, or the amount of unpaid
overtime compensation, as the case may be, owing to such employee
under section 206 or section 207 of this title by an employer
liable therefor under the provisions of this subsection or (2)
legal or equitable relief is sought as a result of alleged
violations of section 215(a)(3) of this title.
(c) Payment of wages and compensation; waiver of claims; actions by
the Secretary; limitation of actions
The Secretary is authorized to supervise the payment of the
unpaid minimum wages or the unpaid overtime compensation owing to
any employee or employees under section 206 or section 207 of this
title, and the agreement of any employee to accept such payment
shall upon payment in full constitute a waiver by such employee of
any right he may have under subsection (b) of this section to such
unpaid minimum wages or unpaid overtime compensation and an
additional equal amount as liquidated damages. The Secretary may
bring an action in any court of competent jurisdiction to recover
the amount of unpaid minimum wages or overtime compensation and an
equal amount as liquidated damages. The right provided by
subsection (b) of this section to bring an action by or on behalf
of any employee to recover the liability specified in the first
sentence of such subsection and of any employee to become a party
plaintiff to any such action shall terminate upon the filing of a
complaint by the Secretary in an action under this subsection in
which a recovery is sought of unpaid minimum wages or unpaid
overtime compensation under sections 206 and 207 of this title or
liquidated or other damages provided by this subsection owing to
such employee by an employer liable under the provisions of
subsection (b) of this section, unless such action is dismissed
without prejudice on motion of the Secretary. Any sums thus
recovered by the Secretary of Labor on behalf of an employee
pursuant to this subsection shall be held in a special deposit
account and shall be paid, on order of the Secretary of Labor,
directly to the employee or employees affected. Any such sums not
paid to an employee because of inability to do so within a period
of three years shall be covered into the Treasury of the United
States as miscellaneous receipts. In determining when an action is
commenced by the Secretary of Labor under this subsection for the
purposes of the statutes of limitations provided in section 255(a)
of this title, it shall be considered to be commenced in the case
of any individual claimant on the date when the complaint is filed
if he is specifically named as a party plaintiff in the complaint,
or if his name did not so appear, on the subsequent date on which
his name is added as a party plaintiff in such action.
(d) Savings provisions
In any action or proceeding commenced prior to, on, or after
August 8, 1956, no employer shall be subject to any liability or
punishment under this chapter or the Portal-to-Portal Act of 1947
[29 U.S.C. 251 et seq.] on account of his failure to comply with
any provision or provisions of this chapter or such Act (1) with
respect to work heretofore or hereafter performed in a workplace to
which the exemption in section 213(f) of this title is applicable,
(2) with respect to work performed in Guam, the Canal Zone or Wake
Island before the effective date of this amendment of subsection
(d), or (3) with respect to work performed in a possession named in
section 206(a)(3) of this title at any time prior to the
establishment by the Secretary, as provided therein, of a minimum
wage rate applicable to such work.
(e) Civil penalties for child labor violations
Any person who violates the provisions of section 212 of this
title or section 213(c)(5) of this title, relating to child labor,
or any regulation issued under section 212 of this title or section
213(c)(5) of this title, shall be subject to a civil penalty of not
to exceed $10,000 for each employee who was the subject of such a
violation. Any person who repeatedly or willfully violates section
206 or 207 of this title shall be subject to a civil penalty of not
to exceed $1,000 for each such violation. In determining the amount
of any penalty under this subsection, the appropriateness of such
penalty to the size of the business of the person charged and the
gravity of the violation shall be considered. The amount of any
penalty under this subsection, when finally determined, may be -
(1) deducted from any sums owing by the United States to the
person charged;
(2) recovered in a civil action brought by the Secretary in any
court of competent jurisdiction, in which litigation the
Secretary shall be represented by the Solicitor of Labor; or
(3) ordered by the court, in an action brought for a violation
of section 215(a)(4) of this title or a repeated or willful
violation of section 215(a)(2) of this title, to be paid to the
Secretary.
Any administrative determination by the Secretary of the amount of
any penalty under this subsection shall be final, unless within
fifteen days after receipt of notice thereof by certified mail the
person charged with the violation takes exception to the
determination that the violations for which the penalty is imposed
occurred, in which event final determination of the penalty shall
be made in an administrative proceeding after opportunity for
hearing in accordance with section 554 of title 5, and regulations
to be promulgated by the Secretary. Except for civil penalties
collected for violations of section 212 of this title, sums
collected as penalties pursuant to this section shall be applied
toward reimbursement of the costs of determining the violations and
assessing and collecting such penalties, in accordance with the
provisions of section 9a of this title. Civil penalties collected
for violations of section 212 of this title shall be deposited in
the general fund of the Treasury.
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