How to Check If a Company Has Labor Violations (2026 Guide)

Why Check an Employer’s Labor Record?

Whether you’re a job seeker researching a potential employer, a lawyer evaluating a case, an investor screening a portfolio company, or an M&A team conducting due diligence—labor enforcement records reveal how a company actually treats its workers.

Federal labor enforcement data is public record. Any employer that has been investigated by OSHA, DOL Wage and Hour Division, or the NLRB has records you can search. The challenge is knowing where to look and how to connect records across agencies.

The 5 Places to Check

Labor enforcement data is maintained by separate federal and state agencies. Here’s where to find each type.

Option 1: Search Each Agency Individually (Free)

You can search each federal database separately at no cost. This works for a quick check on a single employer but becomes impractical for thorough research.

• OSHA: Go to osha.gov → enter establishment name → view inspections and violations (see our complete OSHA Violation Lookup Guide)
• WHD: Go to enforcedata.dol.gov → search WHD compliance data → view wage cases (see our DOL Enforcement Database Guide)
• NLRB: Go to nlrb.gov/case → search by employer name → view case filings (see our NLRB Case Search Guide)
• SEC: Go to sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar → search company filings → check Exhibit 21 for subsidiaries
• State AGs: Visit individual state attorney general websites → search press releases for enforcement actions

The Problem with Separate Searches

Searching agencies one by one has three fundamental problems:

• Time: 5 separate searches per employer. For 10 employers, that’s 50 searches
• Name matching: "McDonald's" on OSHA, "MCDONALDS CORP" on WHD, "McDonald's USA LLC" on NLRB—same company, three different names, three separate results
• No connections: You can’t see that an employer’s OSHA citations in 2023 were followed by WHD wage investigations in 2024 and NLRB charges in 2025—the escalation pattern that predicts future risk

Option 2: Cross-Agency Lookup (From $24.99)

Cross-agency platforms solve all three problems. One search returns results from every agency, linked to the same employer through entity resolution.

LaborAudit’s free lookup shows basic enforcement counts and risk rating for any employer. Full profiles with case details, risk scoring, and industry benchmarking are available from $24.99 per search or $249.99/month for 50 searches.

What a Full Employer Profile Includes

A cross-agency employer enforcement profile includes data that’s impossible to compile from individual agency searches.

• Unified case history across all agencies with timeline view
• LERS risk score (0–100) with letter rating (AAA to C)
• Industry benchmarking: percentile rank against NAICS sector peers
• Corporate family tree: parent company and subsidiary violation roll-up
• Financial exposure: total back wages + OSHA penalties + state settlements
• Escalation detection: automated identification of the OSHA → WHD → NLRB pattern
• Anomaly alerts: unusual spikes in enforcement activity
• Export: multi-sheet XLSX dossier for records

Who Checks Employer Labor Records?

Labor enforcement data is used by a wider range of professionals than most people realize.

• Job seekers: research potential employers’ safety and labor practices before accepting an offer
• Employment lawyers: build case strategy based on an employer’s enforcement history
• Safety consultants: assess client risk before engagements
• ESG analysts: screen portfolio companies for labor compliance gaps
• M&A teams: labor due diligence on acquisition targets (see our M&A Screening Playbook)
• Insurance underwriters: assess workers’ compensation risk
• Journalists: investigate workplace safety at specific companies
• Union organizers: research employer labor practices history

Start Checking Now

Search any employer’s labor enforcement history with LaborAudit’s free lookup. See which agencies have records, the risk rating, and recent enforcement actions—no signup required for basic searches.

For detailed guides on each agency: OSHA Violation Lookup | NLRB Case Search | DOL Enforcement Database. For the most commonly cited safety standards, see: OSHA Top 10 Most Cited Violations 2025–2026.