2023 District of Columbia Code › Title 32 - Labor › Chapter 10 - Minimum Wages › Subchapter I - General › § 32–1011. Penalties; prosecution

§ 32–1011. Penalties; prosecution.
(a) Any person who willfully or negligently violates any of the provisions of § 32-1010 shall, upon conviction, be subject to a fine of not more than $10,000, or to imprisonment of not more than 6 months, or both.
(b) No person shall be imprisoned under this section except for an offense committed willfully or after the conviction of that person for a prior offense under this section.
(c) Prosecutions for violations of this subchapter shall be in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia and shall be conducted by the Attorney General for the District of Columbia.
(d)(1) In addition to and apart from the penalties or remedies provided for in this section or § 32-1012, the Mayor shall assess and collect administrative penalties as follows:
(A) For the first violation of § 32-1003, $50 for each employee or person whose rights under this subchapter are violated for each day that the violation occurred or continued;
(B) For any subsequent violation of § 32-1003, $100 for each employee or person whose rights under this subchapter are violated for each day that the violation occurred or continued;
(C) $500 for each failure to maintain payroll records or to retain payroll records for 3 years or the prevailing federal standard at the time the record is created, which shall be identified in rules issued pursuant to this chapter, whichever is greater, for each violation as required by § 32-1008(a)(1);
(D) $500 for each failure to allow the Mayor to inspect payroll records or perform any other investigation pursuant to § 32-1008(a)(2) or § 32-1010(a)(4);
(E) $500 for each failure to provide each employee an itemized wage statement or the written notice as required by § 32-1008(b) and (c); and
(E-i) $500 against an employer for each failure to timely submit the quarterly wage report required pursuant to § 32-1009.01, in its entirety, unless the employer proves that it used a third-party payroll business to process the relevant quarter's payroll for the employer.
(F) $100 for each day that the employer fails to post notice as required under § 32-1009(a).
(2) The Mayor may assess more than one administrative penalty against an employer for the same adversely affected employee if the employer has violated more than one statutory provision of this subchapter, subchapter X-A of Chapter 2 of Title 2 [§ 2-220.01 et seq.], or Chapter 1A of this title [§ 32-131.01 et seq.].
(e) Repealed.
(f) The fine set forth in this section shall not be limited by § 22-3571.01.
(g) The administrative fines and penalties collected under this section shall be deposited into the Wage Theft Prevention Fund, established by § 32-1308.01.
(Mar. 25, 1993, D.C. Law 9-248, § 12, 40 DCR 761; Apr. 3, 2001, D.C. Law 13-245, § 2, 48 DCR 647; June 11, 2013, D.C. Law 19-317, § 112(d), 60 DCR 2064; Feb. 26, 2015, D.C. Law 20-157, § 3(g), 61 DCR 10157; Apr. 7, 2017, D.C. Law 21-266, § 3(e), 64 DCR 2140; Dec. 3, 2020, D.C. Law 23-149, § 2133(b), 67 DCR 10493.)
Prior Codifications
1981 Ed., § 36-220.10.
Effect of Amendments
D.C. Law 13-245 added subsecs. (d) and (e).
The 2013 amendment by D.C. Law 19-317 added (f).
The 2015 amendment by D.C. Law 20-157 substituted “willfully or negligently” for “willfully” in (a); substituted “committed willfully or” for “committed” in (b); substituted “Attorney General” for “Corporation Counsel” in (c); rewrote (d); repealed (e); and added (g).
Emergency Legislation
For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 3(e) of Wage Theft Prevention Clarification and Overtime Fairness Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2017 (D.C. Act 22-33, Mar. 28, 2017, 64 DCR 3089).
For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 3(e) of Wage Theft Prevention Clarification and Overtime Fairness Emergency Amendment Act of 2016 (D.C. Act 21-583, Dec. 21, 2016, 63 DCR 16031).
For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 3(c) of Wage Theft Prevention Correction and Clarification Second Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2016 (D.C. Act 21-512, Oct. 27, 2016, 63 DCR 13577).
For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 3(c) of Wage Theft Prevention Correction and Clarification Emergency Amendment Act of 2016 (D.C. Act 21-480, July 21, 2016, 63 DCR 10193).
For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 112(d) of the Criminal Fine Proportionality Emergency Act of 2013 (D.C. Act 20-45, April 1, 2013, 60 DCR 5400, 20 DCSTAT 1300).
For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 2(b)(3) of the Wage Theft Prevention Correction and Clarification Emergency Amendment Act of 2014 (D.C. Act 20-544, Dec. 29, 2014, 62 DCR 243, 20 STAT 4458).
For temporary (90 days) repeal of D.C. Law 20-157, § 7, see § 2(c) of the Wage Theft Prevention Correction and Clarification Emergency Amendment Act of 2014 (D.C. Act 20-544, Dec. 29, 2014, 62 DCR 243, 20 STAT 4458).
For temporary (90 days) amendment of section, see § 3(c) of the Wage Theft Prevention Correction and Clarification Emergency Amendment Act of 2015 (D.C. Act 21-188, Oct. 27, 2015, 62 DCR 14224).
For temporary (90 days) repeal of D.C. Law 20-157, § 7, see § 4 of the Wage Theft Prevention Correction and Clarification Emergency Amendment Act of 2015 (D.C. Act 21-188, Oct. 27, 2015, 62 DCR 14224).
For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 3(c) of the Wage Theft Prevention Correction and Clarification Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2016 (D.C. Act 21-293, Jan. 27, 2016, 63 DCR 1215).
For temporary (90 days) repeal of D.C. Law 20-157, § 7, see § 4 of the Wage Theft Prevention Correction and Clarification Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2016 (D.C. Act 21-293, Jan. 27, 2016, 63 DCR 1215).
Temporary Legislation
For temporary (225 days) amendment of this section, see § 3(c) of Wage Theft Prevention Correction and Clarification Temporary Amendment Act of 2016 (D.C. Law 21-170, Nov. 30, 2016, 63 DCR 12600).
For temporary (225 days) amendment of this section, see § 3(c) of the Wage Theft Prevention Correction and Clarification Temporary Amendment Act of 2014 (D.C. Law 20-240, March 13, 2015, 62 DCR 1332).
For temporary (225 days) repeal of D.C. Law 20-157, § 7, see § 4 of the Wage Theft Prevention Correction and Clarification Temporary Amendment Act of 2014 (D.C. Law 20-240, March 13, 2015, 62 DCR 1332).
For temporary (225 days) amendment of this section, see § 3(c) of the Wage Theft Prevention Correction and Clarification Temporary Amendment Act of 2015 (D.C. Law 21-57, Jan. 30, 2016, 62 DCR 15602).
For temporary (225 days) repeal of D.C. Law 20-157, § 7, see § 4 of the Wage Theft Prevention Correction and Clarification Temporary Amendment Act of 2015 (D.C. Law 21-57, Jan. 30, 2016, 62 DCR 15602).
Editor's Notes
Section 4 of D.C. Law 13-245 provided: “The Mayor, pursuant to title 1 of the District of Columbia Administrative Procedure Act shall issue regulations to implement the provisions of this act.”
Applicability of D.C. Law 19-317: Section 401 of D.C. Law 19-317 provided that the act shall apply only to offenses committed on or after June 11, 2013.
Applicability of D.C. Law 20-157: Section 7 of D.C. Law 20-157 provided that the act shall apply as of October 1, 2014, and that the act shall apply to violations occurring after October 1, 2014.