Do you think we have labor laws and divisions to protect you from outright theft of your wages? Think again.

The GAO investigated the Department of Labor, Wage and Hour division, now under the Obama administration and found the DOL is simply blowing off workers with legitimate complaints on getting ripped off on unpaid wages.

The GAO report, Wage and Hour Division Needs Improved Investigative Processes and Ability to Suspend Statute of Limitations to Better Protect Workers Against Wage Theft, details this investigation.

Posing as fictitious complainants, GAO filed 10 common complaints with WHD district offices across the country. These tests found that WHD staff deterred fictitious callers from filing a complaint by encouraging employees to resolve the issue themselves, directing most calls to voicemail, not returning phone calls to both employees and employers, and providing conflicting or misleading information about how to file a complaint.

Now the GAO goes further to explain, in addition to the above, the DOL also doesn't have some of the most basic investigation tools, i.e. to verify if the employer who owes the wages is outright lying.

Pretty incredible for there is nothing more cut and dried in employment law than not paying a worker their wages. You can't do it, period. So how about the other types of complaints workers have against employees, such as discriminatory hiring and firing?

Please click this link and listen to this short video. These are the actual recordings of DOL, WHD government staff blowing off workers with legitimate complaints. It's only when you hear this really happening, does it come home that the DOL, WHD is not doing it's job. Please click the link, imagine you cannot pay the rent without your paycheck, and listen.