Well, sort of.  During a recent American Bar Association conference, a representative of the Department of Labor (DOL) speaking on the issue of targeted enforcement noted that the DOL had “great interest” and “initiative” in investigating the following industries: drywall, property management, landscaping, security guards, restaurants, cleaning companies, and nail salons. It was also noted that regional offices have a lot of discretion regarding the industries they seek to target in their locality.

I am not sure what was meant by “dry wall”; I assume that is the term government agents with soft, clean hands use to refer to construction contractors who install plasterboard, among other things.  Maybe the DOL has become angry at how easily the drywall in their offices can be damaged during the course of celebrations which undoubtedly erupt after they have nailed yet another hardened criminal who violates federal law in the course of collecting huge profits in the process of running his or her landscaping business, house cleaning enterprise, nail salon or other den of iniquity. Whatever the case may be, it is clear that the DOL is expanding their manhunt to include mom and pop type businesses across America.  But rest easy; I am sure the taxes and fines collected will be used to bolster the Social Security Trust Fund that these moms and pops will need when their businesses fail.

This blog is presented under protest by the law firm of Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP.  It is essentially the random thoughts and opinions of someone who lives in the trenches of the war that often is employment law–he/she may well be a little shell-shocked.  So if you are thinking “woohoo, I just landed some free legal advice that will fix all my problems!”, think again.  This is commentary people, a sketchy overview of some current legal issue with a dose of humor, but commentary nonetheless; as if Dennis Miller were a lawyer…and still mildly amusing.  No legal advice here; you would have to pay real US currency for that (unless you are my mom, and even then there are limits).  But feel free to contact us with your questions and comments—who knows, we might even answer you.  And if you want to spread this stuff around, feel free to do so, but please keep it in its present form (‘cause you can’t mess with this kind of poetry).  Big news: Copyright 2013.  All rights reserved; yep, all of them.

If you have any questions regarding this blog or your life in general, contact Kelly O. Scott, Esq. (who else would you contact?), commander in chief of this blog and Head Honcho (official legal title) of ECJ’s Employment Law Department, at (310) 281-6348 or kscott@ecjlaw.com.