SECRETARY OF LABOR
WASHINGTON, [3.12. IDIIG

SEP 2 2315

The Honorable Elizabeth Warren
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senator Warren:

Thank you for the letter from you and you-r colleagues dated September 22, asking that the
Department of Labor (?the Department?) open an investigation into whether Wells Fargo has
violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) with respect to its account executives, bank tellers,
branch managers, and customer service representatives. We take the concerns raised in your
letter very seriously.

The Wage and Hour Division (WI-ID) initiates investigations in two ways. First, individuals may
?le complaints directly with WHD. Second, uses data and evidence to strategicaliy
identify certain types of businesses or industries for investigation. These targeted investigations
enable WHD to improve compliance with the laws in various business, industries, or localities.
fer instance, targets low wage industries and industries with high rates of violations or
egregious violations. Regardless of what initiated an investigation, at] investigations are
conducted in accordance with the same established policies and procedures. Please note that
does not reveal the reason for initiating an investigation in order to protect the identity of
complainants.

We appreciate you raising concerns about the complaints against Wells Fargo in the FLSA
context going back to 1999. WHD is currently carefully reviewing the issues raised in your
letter, including, but not limited to its history of compliance actions with Wells Fargo, to
determine the best course of action in this matter. We will keep you and your staff informed in
accordance with established protocols.

Given the serious nature of the allegations, the recent actions of our Federal partners, and recent
media reports, I have directed enforcement agencies within the Department to conduct a top-to-
bottom review of cases, complaints, or violations concerning Wells Fargo over the last several
years. To ensare a thorough and expedient review, the Department has established a working
group that includes WHD, the Employee Benefits Security Administration, the Occupational
Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Office of Federal Centract Compliance
Programs, and the Of?ce of the Solicitor.

In addition to our top~to~bottom review, the Department has taken other meaSures to ensure that
all current and former Wells Fargo employees are aware of the worker protection laws under the
Department?s jurisdiction. This includes creation of a dedicated landing page at
and specific monitoring of our toll-free hotline (1-866-4USADOL) and
email address 

 

Of note, OSl?lf??t enforces 22 separate whistleblower taws, including those under the Consumer
Financial Protection Act (CFPA) and the Sarbanes?Oxley Act (30X). The Whistleblower
Protection Program received a number of complaints from Wells Fargo employees over the past
five years under both the CFPA and 80X. The majority of the whistleblovvcr cases that OSIIA
investigated against Wells Fargo in the last live years have been concluded. through settlement
or other actions. In some cases, OSHA determined that the complaints had no merit under
whistleblower laws that OSHA enforces. OSHA continues to investigate at least a handful of
complaints from former or current Wells Fargo employees. I have asked OSHA to review the
entire docket of both closed and-open Wells Fargo cases since 2010 to examine the handling and
disposition of those cases, including the extent of our coordination with our Federal partners.
Given statutory timeframes and the potential age of closed cases, it may not be possible to
provide recourse under the whistleblower laws that 081 1A enforces. Nonetheless, we want to
determine what the facts are, what we can do about them, and how we can learn from this
situation. This will include working with our Federal partners to identify any appropriate
recourse that individuals might potentially have.

Thank you again for your letter. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to
contact me directly or Adri .layaratne, Acting Assistant Secretary for Congressional and
Intergovemmental Affairs, at 202-693?4600.

Sincerely,

4

THOMAS E. PEREZ