Carol R. Merchant - Knoxville, TN

CAROL R. MERCHANT is a Consultant with Wimberly Lawson Wright Daves & Jones, PLLC. She provides consulting services, in conjunction with the firm's attorneys, with emphasis on compliance with regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act, Family and Medical Leave Act, Davis Bacon and Related Acts, Service Contract Act, Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act, Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act, H2A provisions of the Immigration Reform and Control Act, Employee Polygraph Protection Act and the Federal Wage Garnishment Law (Title III of the Consumer Credit Protection Act).

Carol retired from the U. S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, in December 2007, after 33 years of service with the Division. From 2000 to the end of 2007 she was the Nashville District Director, supervising enforcement of Wage and Hour laws in the State of Tennessee. Prior to that she had been Assistant District Director of the Knoxville Wage and Hour office after 11 years as an investigator in Columbia, South Carolina.

During her years as District Director and Assistant District Director, she reviewed investigative files, conferred with the Solicitor's Office of the U.S. Department of Labor on cases that should be litigated, and assessed and negotiated payment of civil money penalties under the Fair Labor Standards Act (including child labor), Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act, H2A and Employee Polygraph Protection Act. She was responsible for managing all seven Wage and Hour offices in the State of Tennessee.

She worked on rewriting portions of the Wage and Hour Divisions' Field Operations Handbook, organized and conducted three national training classes for Wage and Hour Technicians, and co-wrote the national training manual for investigators on developing litigation cases.

From 2003 until her retirement in December 2007 she was the Southeast Regional Representative on the National Health Care Team examining compliance problems in the health care industry. She testified in Federal Court on numerous cases litigated by the U. S. Department of Labor.

Carol received her Master of Arts degree in American History from the College of William and Mary and her Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Columbia College. In 2000 she was awarded the Distinguished Career Service Award from the Secretary of Labor.