Back in the late 80's early 90's I managed a fast food place and we had to manage payroll by the hour. We checked sales every 15 minutes during peak times and if things were slow you sent people home. If things were busy you could use that extra hours allowed to call people in to prep, clean, whatever. It was really 'hands-on' but we never had to cut our payroll by a hundred hours because we blew payroll the week before getting ready for DTL visit.
Oh this is one of my pet peeves. Everyone is on edge, everyone has hours to get the job done because we are getting a visit. I hate fake. The job should be done right the first time and not redone so that we can look good for a visit.
This is done on purpose. They cut payroll hours so they can turn a higher profit, while eliminating benefits and putting the burden onto taxpayers == bigger golden parachute for good ole Gregg.
Visits should be random and unannounced. This gives the DTL a better idea of how stores are actually run.
Visits are preplanned for a reason.