The Ensuring Workers Get PAID Act of 2025 establishes a voluntary Payroll Audit Independent Determination (PAID) program allowing employers to self-audit and correct minimum wage or overtime violations under the FLSA in exchange for limited penalty relief and employee waiver of private suit rights.
Glenn Grothman
Representative
WI-6
The Ensuring Workers Get PAID Act of 2025 establishes a voluntary Payroll Audit Independent Determination (PAID) program within the Department of Labor. This program allows employers in good faith to self-audit and correct unintentional minimum wage or overtime violations under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Upon full payment of back wages, employers receive limited liability protection, and employees who accept the payment waive their right to sue for those specific claims. The program is set to terminate after five years.
New 'PAID' Act Allows Employers to Self-Correct Wage Errors: Back Pay Within 90 Days in Exchange for Legal Waivers.
The 'Ensuring Workers Get PAID Act of 2025' creates a fast-track system for you to get unpaid wages without waiting years for a court case. If your boss realizes they messed up your overtime or didn't hit the minimum wage mark, they can voluntarily report themselves to the Department of Labor (DOL). Under this new 'PAID' program, the employer has to pony up 100% of the back wages they owe within 90 days of the government approving their plan. It’s essentially a 'confess and correct' system designed to get cash into workers' pockets faster than a traditional investigation, which usually takes twice as long and covers fewer people.
The Trade-Off for Your Paycheck There is a significant catch you need to know about: the 'Release of Claims.' If your employer uses this program, the DOL will send you a notice showing exactly how much they think you’re owed. If you accept that check, you legally waive your right to sue that employer for those specific wage violations. For a retail manager or a construction worker, this is a bird-in-the-hand scenario. You get the full back pay quickly, but you lose the ability to go to court later to seek 'liquidated damages'—which is basically extra penalty money that judges sometimes award to punish employers. You aren't forced to sign, and the bill explicitly makes it illegal for your boss to fire or retaliate against you if you decide to turn down the settlement and keep your right to sue.
Who’s In and Who’s Out Not every business can use this as a 'get out of jail free' card. To qualify, an employer must be acting in 'good faith,' meaning they aren't already being sued or investigated by the DOL for these specific issues. They also can’t have used the program for the same mistake in the last five years. However, some workers are left out of this loop entirely. If you are working under specific visa programs like H-1B, H-2B, or H-2A, or if you're on a federal contract with 'prevailing wage' requirements, this program doesn't apply to you. You’ll still have to stick to the traditional, often slower, enforcement routes to get your missing pay.
The Audit Shield One of the most interesting parts of this bill is the 'safe harbor' it gives to businesses. If an employer applies for the program but gets rejected, the DOL generally can't use the info from that application to start a brand-new investigation against them, unless there’s a serious safety risk like child labor or dangerous housing. This is meant to encourage business owners to be honest about their books without fearing a surprise raid. While this could lead to more workers getting paid, the medium level of vagueness around 'good faith' means the DOL will have a lot of discretion in deciding which bosses are truly making honest mistakes and which ones are just trying to avoid heavy fines after getting caught red-handed.