Earlier this year, the United States Department of Labor (DOL) announced that its Wage and Hour Division was conducting a compliance initiative with respect to the health care industry in New York State. The DOL confirmed that the initiative “aims to promote compliance with the minimum wage, overtime, recordkeeping and child labor provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), and to ensure employees are protected and compensated in accordance with the law.” It appears this latest initiative was prompted by the DOL’s finding that, over the past five years, less than 36% of health care employers investigated by the Wage and Hour Division’s Albany office were in compliance with the FLSA. As part of its recently announced effort to ensure conformity with the FLSA, the DOL is investigating several New York companies who could be subject to penalties should the DOL discover noncompliance with the law, which can include payment of back wages owed to its employees.