The Department of Labor’s new amnesty program for companies that owe back wages becomes effective next Tuesday, April 3. The Payroll Audit Independent Determination (PAID) program allows employers to self-report wage and hour violations without legal consequences so long as they are not prior offenders and they pay affected workers the full back pay owed. The PAID program will be tested as a 6-month pilot program and then reevaluated. In other DOL news, we’ll likely have to wait for further regulatory clarifications on the tip pooling language in the Omnibus bill that was signed by the President last week to keep the government operating. On the surface, the language simply prohibits employers, supervisors or managers from participating in tip pools, however on closer review, the functionality of the provision depends almost entirely on how manager or supervisor is defined – the very source of the tip pool problem in Massachusetts. Lastly, we will watch with interest efforts by Burgerville employees of a shop in Southeast Portland, Oregon to win recognition for a union they claim to have created 2 years ago. The “union”, which has been pushing for a $5 per hour increase in wages, has given the store 48 hours to recognize the union. Failing that, the employees plan to file with DOL for a federal union representation election.