To perform this analysis, The Center for Public Integrity analyzed data provided by the Labor Department in response to a Freedom of Information Act request. The data used in the analysis covers the period from October 2005 through September 2020 and includes all cases in which the agency determined there were minimum wage or overtime violations.
Employers were grouped by their employer identification number, or EIN. The Labor Department withheld EINs in about one-third of cases involving minimum wage or overtime violations. Those cases were excluded from portions of the analysis that required identifying specific companies (such as analysis focusing on repeat offenders).
Public Integrity is suing the Labor Department for the withheld information.
This story is a collaboration between The Associated Press and The Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit investigative newsroom in Washington, D.C.
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