Core Provisions: This legislation would amend the Portal-to-Portal Act to suspend the statute of limitations on Fair Labor Standards Act litigation while an investigation by the Secretary of Labor is pending. Under the bill, the statute of limitations would be tolled from the date the Secretary provides notice to the employer of an investigation related to the cause of action until the date the Secretary provides notice to the employer that the investigation has concluded.

The bill is based on a Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommendation made in a report concerning the Department of Labor’s investigations into wage theft. The GAO investigated the Wage and Hour Division’s complaint handling and found that the investigation process was too lengthy and the statute of limitations on wage claims often ran out while the investigation was underway.

Status: H.R. 3303 was introduced by Rep. Miller (D-CA) on July 23, 2009 and referred to the House Committees on Education and Labor and on the Judiciary.