Ensuring Workers Get PAID Act of 2025
Sponsored By: Representative Rep. Grothman, Glenn [R-WI-6]
In Committee
Summary
This bill would create a voluntary payroll remediation program called the Payroll Audit Independent Determination (PAID) to help employers identify and fix inadvertent Fair Labor Standards Act wage and overtime violations. It relies on employer self-audits and structured settlement offers and adds protections for employees who accept or decline PAID offers.
Show full summary
- Employers can submit self-audits to the Wage and Hour Division that list affected employees, describe potential violations, and promise corrective action. The Department of Labor must review applications and act on a submission or amended submission within 30 days.
- Affected employees receive settlement offers and release forms with proof of payment requirements. If employees accept and receive full payment they release claims limited to the identified violations, and employees who decline may still pursue private lawsuits.
- PAID is housed in the Wage and Hour Division and includes confidentiality protections for materials submitted, limits on expanding approved scopes, and new anti-retaliation language added to the Fair Labor Standards Act. The Administrator must provide online and printed compliance assistance within 30 days of enactment.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
3 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 0 costs, 2 mixed.
New route to collect unpaid wages
If enacted, the bill would create a new Payroll Audit Independent Determination program to let employees recover unpaid minimum wages or overtime within the Portal-to-Portal statute of limitations (29 U.S.C. 255(a)). The agency would run the program and use employer self-audits to approve settlements. If you accept a settlement and the employer pays you in full, you would give up your private FLSA lawsuit for the violations covered. The bill would exclude workers covered by H‑1B, H‑2A/B, Davis‑Bacon, or the Service Contract Act from being "affected employees."
Employer application and review rules
If enacted, employers would need to submit a detailed self-audit to join the PAID program. Applications must list each affected worker, payroll records, calculations, and assurances that the practice was fixed and not already in litigation. The agency must decide within 30 days of the original or amended submission and will approve only if the audit is accurate, the employer acted in good faith, and the employer has no FLSA minimum-wage or overtime violation in the prior five years. The bill would ban any application fee, protect most application information from discovery without employer consent, and require the agency to publish compliance materials within 30 days after enactment.
Worker protection for PAID choices
If enacted, the bill would add protection to the FLSA so employers could not retaliate against employees for accepting or declining a PAID settlement offer. This would make it illegal for an employer to punish a worker for making that choice under the PAID program.
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Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Rep. Grothman, Glenn [R-WI-6]
WI • R
Cosponsors
Rep. Hamadeh, Abraham J. [R-AZ-8]
AZ • R
Sponsored 3/26/2025
Rep. Stefanik, Elise M. [R-NY-21]
NY • R
Sponsored 4/7/2025
Messmer
IN • R
Sponsored 11/17/2025
Tenney
NY • R
Sponsored 11/19/2025
Rep. Fine, Randy [R-FL-6]
FL • R
Sponsored 11/19/2025
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
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