Congress·Reported·H.R. 2299

Congress Proposes Program to Help Workers Get Back Pay Faster Through Voluntary Employer Audits

Ensuring Workers Get PAID Act of 2025

4 months ago·View on Congress.gov·Read full text

Legislative Progress

House

Senate

President

Law

Key Points

This bill creates a permanent program at the Labor Department that lets employers check their own records for pay mistakes. If a company finds they accidentally underpaid workers for overtime or minimum wage, they can report the error and pay the back wages immediately without facing extra penalties.
Workers who were underpaid would receive the full amount of money they are owed. If a worker accepts the payment, they agree not to sue the company for that specific mistake. However, workers have the right to turn down the settlement if they would rather take the company to court on their own.
The goal is to get money back to workers faster than a typical government investigation. A previous test of this program showed that workers received about four times more money per case than they did through standard investigations, and the process was twice as fast.
To join the program, employers must be acting in good faith. They cannot participate if they are already being sued or investigated for the same pay issue, or if they have been caught breaking these same pay laws in the last five years.
The law includes protections to make sure workers are not fired or punished for choosing to accept or decline a settlement. It also prevents the government from using an employer's self-report against them if their application to the program is turned down.

Labor Employment

Impact Analysis

Personal Impact

Who is affectedScoreImpactCertaintyScopeDurationSentiment

Scores: 1 = low, 5 = highSentiment: -5 to +5 (net benefit)

Milestones

3 milestones6 actions

Mar 3, 2026House

Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 464.

Mar 3, 2026House

Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Education and Workforce. H. Rept. 119-539.

Nov 20, 2025House

Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 20 - 15.

Nov 20, 2025House

Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held

Mar 24, 2025House

Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.

What Happens Next

Projected impacts based on AI analysis

30 days after enactment

Labor Department publishes compliance assistance resources for employers

Within 30 days of the law being signed, employers would have access to online and printed materials explaining wage and hour rules, helping them identify potential pay violations before applying to the program.

Within a few months of enactment

PAID program begins accepting employer applications

Employers can start submitting self-audit results to the Labor Department. Workers who were underpaid minimum wage or overtime could begin receiving back wages through the streamlined settlement process, with applications reviewed within 30 days.

Related News

4 articles

Bloomberg Law·4 months ago

House Panel Advances Bill to Revive Trump-Era Payroll Audit Program

A House committee approved a Republican-led bill to codify a Department of Labor program that allows employers to self-audit and settle wage-and-hour violations without facing penalties. The measure aims to speed up back-pay distributions to workers by bypassing lengthy government investigations.

CL=

Law360·4 months ago

House Committee OKs Bill To Revive Voluntary Wage Audit Program

The House Committee on Education and the Workforce voted 20-15 to advance the Ensuring Workers Get PAID Act. The legislation would permanently establish the Payroll Audit Independent Determination (PAID) program, which was a pilot under the Trump administration before being ended by the Biden DOL.

HRCI·3 months ago

Bills Amending the FLSA Advance in Congress

The House Committee on Education and the Workforce has approved legislation that would codify the Payroll Audit Independent Determination program. The 'Ensuring Workers Get Paid Act' (H.R. 2299) would allow employers to voluntarily participate in a program to fix inadvertent payroll mistakes.