# 2024-31602: Government Fines Get Inflation Raise Just Like Everything Else

2024-31602, Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Annual Adjustments for 2025, is a Federal Register rule from an unnamed agency published 2025-01-10, effective 2025-01-15; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-06-11).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2024-31602
- As of: 2026-06-11
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Document number: 2024-31602
- Title: Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Annual Adjustments for 2025
- Type: Rule
- Agencies: unknown
- Citation: unknown
- Published: 2025-01-10
- Effective: 2025-01-15
- Comments close: not stated
- Significant: no
- Touches household money: yes
- Regulation identifier numbers: none
- Last updated: 2026-06-11

## In one line

Government Fines Get Inflation Raise Just Like Everything Else

## Summary

Starting January 15, 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor is raising its civil penalty amounts to keep up with inflation. This means businesses and workers affected by labor laws might face higher fines if they break the rules. These updates help keep penalties fair and effective by matching today’s cost of living.

## Abstract

The U.S. Department of Labor (Department) is publishing this final rule to adjust for inflation the civil monetary penalties assessed or enforced by the Department, pursuant to the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990 as amended by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 (Inflation Adjustment Act). The Inflation Adjustment Act requires the Department to annually adjust its civil money penalty levels for inflation no later than January 15 of each year. The Inflation Adjustment Act provides that agencies shall adjust civil monetary penalties notwithstanding section 553 of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). Additionally, the Inflation Adjustment Act provides a cost- of-living formula for adjustment of the civil penalties. Accordingly, this final rule sets forth the Department's 2025 annual adjustments for inflation to its civil monetary penalties.

## Effects PRIA read

- Department-wide penalty increases (2025): cost, medium. Starting January 15, 2025, the Department of Labor raised civil monetary penalties across its programs to adjust for inflation using a multiplier of 1.02598 (based on the October 2024 CPI-U vs October 2023). The higher penalty amounts apply to any penalties assessed after January 15, 2025, and each…
- OSHA State Plans must align penalties: cost, medium. State plans approved by Federal OSHA that cover private-sector employees must increase their maximum and minimum penalty levels to align with Federal OSHA's January 15, 2025 penalty increases. The rule lists 21 states that must increase penalties for private-sector employers; six states that have p…
- Higher FLSA tip and wage-violation fines: cost, low. Penalties for tip retention and related FLSA wage violations were raised for 2025. For example, Sec. 578.3 shows increases from $1,373 to $1,409 for one penalty tier and from $2,451 to $2,515 for another penalty tier, effective January 15, 2025.
- Higher OSHA citation and maximum penalty levels: cost, medium. OSHA-related penalty figures were updated for 2025. For example, OSHA penalty lines in Sec. 1903.15 show increases such as $11,524 to $11,823 and larger amounts like $161,323 to $165,514 and $16,131 to $16,550, effective January 15, 2025.
- Higher penalties for homeworker and child-labor rules: cost, low. Civil penalty amounts for homeworker violations and child-labor violations were raised for 2025. For homeworkers, Sec. 530.302 shows a top penalty per affected homeworker updated to $1,313. For child-labor provisions, Sec. 570.140 and Sec. 579 amended amounts include increases such as $15,629 to $1…

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## Sources
- [2024-31602 on federalregister.gov](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/01/10/2024-31602/federal-civil-penalties-inflation-adjustment-act-annual-adjustments-for-2025)
- [2024-31602 as published (PDF)](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2025-01-10/pdf/2024-31602.pdf)

## Related
- [Previous: 2024-31566, Seaway Regulations and Rules: Periodic Update, Various Categories](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2024-31566)
- [Next: 2024-31751, Recordkeeping and Reporting Requirements Under Title VII, the ADA, GINA, and th…](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2024-31751)
- [All Federal Register documents](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2024-31602 (as of 2026-06-11).