INDIANOLA, MS – In the summer of 2022, U.S. Department of Labor leaders heard from a group of Black farmworkers in the Mississippi Delta about allegations of abuse and exploitation of Black farmworkers in some of the nation’s poorest counties, including egregious violations of their workplace rights.

Today, the department’s Wage and Hour Division announced that, to date, it has conducted investigations and identified violations by 44 employers and recovered $505,540 in back wages for 161 workers. Employers also paid an additional $341,838 in civil money penalties.

The division’s completed investigations found employers, in violation of program requirements when they did the following:

• Showed preferential treatment towards temporary H-2A agricultural workers and failed to pay the required rate of pay to U.S. workers in corresponding employment.
• Did not disclose all conditions of employment.
• Failed to provide accurate anticipated hours of work and bonus opportunities.
• Made illegal pay deductions.
• Did not reimburse travel-related expenses as required.
• Failed to comply with federal recordkeeping requirements.

“The outcome of these investigations confirms that employers in the Mississippi Delta denied a large number of marginalized farmworkers their lawful wages, and in some cases, violated the rights of U.S. workers by giving temporary guest workers preferential treatment,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Audrey Hall in Jackson, Mississippi. “Though we were alarmed by the allegations from Black farmworkers in the Mississippi Delta, we applaud them for their willingness to come forward and shed light on these widespread violations. The courage they showed has helped workers across the Delta finally receive their long overdue wages.”

In addition to its enforcement efforts, the division conducted multiple outreach events for the Mississippi Delta Council, an area economic development organization representing 19 Delta and part-Delta counties of Northwest Mississippi. These events provided local agricultural, business and professional leaders with opportunities to work together to enhance compliance throughout the region.

“The Wage and Hour Division protects the rights of workers of color and others who have been historically underserved, marginalized and faced with persistent poverty and inequality,” said Regional Administrator Juan Coria in Atlanta. “Collaboration with trusted partners, like the Mississippi Center for Justice, is critical to protecting these workers’ rights. The center provided important help in our efforts to protect the rights of workers whose employers denied them their full wages and protections.”

Currently, Southeast employers host the largest number of H-2A workers in the nation. In addition to the Wage and Hour Division, the expanded agriculture enforcement in the Delta region brought together federal experts from the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Employment and Training Administration and Office of the Solicitor; as well as with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and regional stakeholders, such as the Mississippi Center for Justice and the NAACP.

For more information about workers’ rights enforced by the Wage and Hour Division, contact its toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Workers can call the division confidentially with questions and the division can speak with callers in more than 200 languages. Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division. Download the agency’s new Timesheet App for iOS and Android devices – free and now available in Spanish – to track hours and pay.

WASHINGTON – Acting U.S. Secretary of Labor Julie Su released the following statement after a tentative agreement was reached today between leaders of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association:

“This afternoon, the leaders of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association reached a tentative agreement covering 22,000 workers and 29 West Coast ports, demonstrating once again that collective bargaining — though sometimes difficult — works.

“Thanks to the hard work and perseverance of the leadership of the ILWU and the PMA, the tentative agreement delivers important stability for workers, for employers and for our country’s supply chain. This important milestone is welcome news to all, and on behalf of President Biden, we are pleased to congratulate both parties on what they have achieved.”

WASHINGTON – U.S. Assistant Secretary of Labor for Public Affairs Julie McClain Downey issued the following statement on the May 2023 Employment Situation Report:

“Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the American economy added 339,000 jobs in the month of May, further confirmation that the economy continues its steady growth, and working families are benefiting from the economic policies of this Administration. The 3.7 percent unemployment rate in May remains within a low, narrow range that has remained consistent for more than a year, the longest period of sub-4 percent unemployment since the 1960s. 

“The Biden-Harris administration has implemented an investment agenda that prioritizes expanding the middle class and equitably distributes gains among historically underserved communities. Last month’s record-high labor force participation rate for prime working-age women did not falter. As inflation moderates, 4.3 percent nominal annual wage growth translates to easing financial pressures on families. 

“This is a strong and healthy report that squarely places the economy in a resilient period of steady growth, where jobs in 10 large sectors of the economy are above their pre-pandemic levels. Since President Biden took office, the nation has created 13.1 million new jobs, providing opportunities for good jobs with better conditions for workers and job seekers across the country.” 

WASHINGTON – Representatives from the Domestic Policy Council, Department of Labor, Office of Personnel Management, and the Department of Veterans Affairs convened today for a roundtable on Mental Health at Work at the White House. The discussion focused on the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to promoting best practices to improve worker mental health in federal workplaces.

Roundtable participants consisted of federal employees – including Employee Assistance Program and work life coordinators – union leaders, EAP vendors, and mental health experts and advocates. All discussed the importance of eliminating stigma, reducing stress, and strengthening and improving mental health supports at federal agencies, and offered their recommendations for best practices.

During the roundtable, Department of Labor representatives discussed the ongoing Mental Health at Work Initiative, highlighting a new public service announcement on the need to create mental health-friendly workplaces.

“Mental health-friendly workplaces can have an important positive impact on workers’ lives, and this certainly includes those of federal employees,” said Assistant Secretary for Disability Employment Policy Taryn Williams. “At the Department of Labor, we are raising awareness to reduce stigma around mental health at work, and to connect workers and employers with the resources they need to manage everything from day-to-day stress, to treating diagnosable mental health conditions, including substance use disorders.”

The Office of Personnel Management discussed efforts to revitalize Employee Assistance Programs as an important part of employee wellness. Released today, OPM’s new Employee Wellness Program guidance, which incorporates advice on EAP within a broader set of wellness programming, establishes parameters for Employee Wellness Programs; provides agency leaders with resources for themselves, agency work life coordinators, supervisors, and employees; and equips leaders with the information needed to promote employees access to wellness resources.

“Employee Wellness Programs are an essential part of supporting our workforce," said Rob Shriver, OPM Deputy Director. "These programs give leaders at all levels the tools and resources they need to promote and sustain well-being. We know that EAPs play an important role in minimizing negative stigmas around seeking mental health treatment and foster supportive and safe workplaces.”

The roundtable was part of the administration’s recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, and its broader commitment to making the federal government a model employer.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Assistant Secretary of Labor for Public Affairs Julie McClain Downey issued the following statement on the April 2023 Employment Situation Report:

“Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the American economy added 253,000 jobs in the month of April, and the unemployment rate ticked down to a historic low mark of 3.4 percent – the lowest since May 1969. The last time the unemployment rate was lower was October 1953. 

“The report shows that the Biden-Harris administration’s actions have created a period of steady economic growth, marked by increased equity and historic levels of workforce participation for key demographics.  

“Average hourly earnings are up 4.4 percent over the year, and production and nonsupervisory employees are seeing average hourly earnings up 5 percent in that period, which is helping our workers keep pace with increased costs. Combined with steady increases in health care, construction, transportation and professional and business services jobs this month, this puts Americans on an increasingly solid footing to meet their families’ needs. 

“Women are making historic contributions to our country’s economic well-being. For prime-age women, the labor force participation rate was 77.5 percent in April, the highest rate since this measurement began in 1948. Additionally, in March, Black unemployment hit an all-time low at 5.0 percent. In April, it reached another: 4.7 percent. The President’s determination that no community be left behind is paying off. Continued focus on eliminating longstanding barriers and creating pathways to enable even more women and people in marginalized communities to fully participate in the economic life of our country will be crucial to sustain these gains. 

“The President’s Investing in America agenda continues to ease the economic burdens on families and create new avenues to prosperity. The Good Jobs initiative at the Department of Labor is achieving its objective of getting good jobs to people in an equitable way to ensure that this recovery is sustained, equitable and long-lasting for communities across the country.”

WASHINGTON – U.S. Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Julie McClain Downey issued the following statement on the March 2023 Employment Situation Report:

Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the American economy added 236,000 jobs in the month of March, and the unemployment rate ticked down to its historic low mark of 3.5 percent. With 12.6 million jobs added since President Biden took office, an average of 345,000 jobs added over the past three months, and more Americans entering the labor force and finding opportunities, this report indicates that the economy is continuing to provide steady, stable job growth that benefits workers and their families.

“Job growth was relatively widespread, with significant gains in leisure and hospitality, professional and business services, government, and healthcare – with welcome and ongoing progress in the home healthcare settings, hospitals, and nursing and residential care facilities that were hit hard by the pandemic.

“This recovery continues to be distinguished by signs of increased equity in our nation’s economic systems. In March the unemployment rate for Black workers fell to a record low of 5.0 percent, and a record low of 4.2 percent for Black women.

“As the President’s Investing in America agenda spurs job growth and reduces costs in communities across the nation, at the Department of Labor we remain focused on ensuring that these opportunities are available to all. Our Good Jobs Initiative is working across the government and the economy to improve job quality and increase equitable access to good jobs through this administration’s historic investments.”

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services today announced a Memorandum of Agreement to advance ongoing efforts to address child labor exploitation. 

The department’s Wage and Hour Division and the Health and Human Services Department’s Administration for Children and Families signed the agreement to formalize a partnership between the agencies, and outline procedures the agencies will follow as they work together to deepen information-sharing, coordination, training and education. The MOA seeks to maximize the division’s enforcement of the child labor protections of the Fair Labor Standards Act, to enhance the ability to protect children from exploitation and to connect individuals to needed benefits and services. The MOA include unprecedented steps for greater collaboration between the two agencies to prevent and address illegal child labor.

The agreement will do the following:

• Help identify geographies and employers where children are likely being exploited.
• Aid investigations by providing information to help identify circumstances where children are unlawfully employed.
• Facilitate coordination to ensure that victims or potential victims of child labor trafficking have access to critical services.

The agreement will also support the efforts of the interagency child labor task force announced on Feb. 27, 2023. The task force seeks to promote further collaboration and improve information-sharing between federal agencies, and to advance the health, education and well-being of children in the U.S.  

“Our partnership with the Department of Health and Human Services will help us continue to combat illegal child labor and protect the most vulnerable,” said Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda. “Our economy cannot – and will not – rely on the illegal hiring of vulnerable children. We will work across the federal government and with local and state partners to fight child labor exploitation.”

Since 2018, the Department of Labor has seen a 69 percent increase in children employed in violation of child labor laws. On Feb. 17, 2023, the department announced the resolution of one of the largest child labor cases in its history against Packers Sanitation Services Inc. LTD. Currently, the department is investigating more than 600 child labor cases.   

“Child labor exploitation can disrupt a youth’s health, safety, education and overall well-being, which are unacceptable consequences for any child,” said Assistant Secretary for the Administration for Children and Families January Contreras. “This partnership with the Department of Labor provides further opportunity to carry out our mission of protecting the well-being of children by arming ourselves and our partners – inside and outside of government – with the information and tools needed to help us all be a part of preventing and responding to child labor exploitation.”

In addition to the MOA, the two departments have announced steps to further strengthen collaboration to combat child labor. The Department of Labor is holding employers like PSSI accountable for systemic abuses of child labor and launched a strategic enforcement initiative on child labor, now underway. It is also enhancing scrutiny for all employers to target labor violations at all steps in a supply chain. Finally, the department is calling on Congress to strengthen protections for all child workers and increase civil monetary penalties for child labor violations.

For its part, HHS is expanding post-release services for children and sponsors after children have left their care. The departments are collaborating on training materials to be deployed to relevant HHS programs and partners, and for unaccompanied children and their sponsors to educate them about child labor laws in the U.S. and their rights. Both departments will continue to collaborate on the creation of materials that are clear, easily accessible, and available to children, sponsors and other stakeholders.

Young workers, parents, teachers, advocates and employers are encouraged to visit the department’s YouthRules! website for information about child labor laws. Employers may use its Compliance Assistance Toolkit to ensure they comply with federal child labor laws.

Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division. Workers can call the Wage and Hour Division confidentially with questions – regardless of where they are from – and the department can speak with callers in more than 200 languages.

WASHINGTON – For women working in the U.S., the date of Equal Pay Day isn’t a day of celebration. Rather, the day is a reminder that it takes women 15 months to earn the same amount as men earned in 12 months.

Today is Equal Pay Day in 2023, a reminder of systemic inequality faced by women and especially those of color. In the U.S., women who work full-time, year-round, are paid an average of 83.7 percent as much as men, which amounts to a difference of $10,000 per year. The gaps are even larger for many women of color and women with disabilities.

“Equal Pay Day – the day of the year when women working in the U.S. finally earn the same amount as men did in the year before – is an unfortunate reminder that historic wage inequity continues,” said Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su. “The Biden-Harris administration has made unprecedented investments through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act and remains determined to remove barriers that prevent women from obtaining good-paying jobs found in the projects these investments will fund to help close the gender wage gap.”

The U.S. Department of Labor has several agency initiatives underway to combat gender and racial pay disparities in the workforce and ensure equity in the implementation of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Chips and Science and Inflation Reduction acts. They include the following:

• The launch of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs’ Mega Construction Project Program to foster equal opportunity in the construction trades workforce by removing hiring barriers and promoting diversity as qualified workers are considered for construction jobs. Read an OFCCP fact sheet to help employers take proactive approaches to pay equity.
• The Employment and Training Administration’s March 6, 2023, announcement of a cooperative agreement of nearly $20 million to support TradesFutures, the National Urban League and their community partners in developing a strategy to substantially increase the number of participants from underrepresented populations – including women and underserved communities – in Registered Apprenticeships in the construction industry. The effort will enroll more than 13,000 participants in apprenticeship readiness programs and place at least 7,000 participants in construction industry Registered Apprenticeships.
• Publication by the Women’s Bureau of a brief on the causes of the gender wage gap, including new statistics and analyses of gender and racial wage gaps, and a second brief on salary history bans legislation that prohibit employers from asking about prior salaries as a way to promote equal pay includes historic information on equal pay legislation and policymaking, salary history bans’ benefits and design and other policies for closing the gender wage gap.
• The ongoing Good Jobs Initiative provides tools with practical strategies to increase equal employment opportunities on infrastructure projects, including using Project Labor Agreements as Tools for Equity and establishing Access and Opportunity Committees, stakeholder groups that meet regularly to monitor and support diversity and equity goals on a specific project.

“To build an inclusive economy, we need to enable workers to obtain jobs based on their interests, skills and aptitude rather than gender, race or ethnicity, and promote good-paying jobs that follow fair wage setting practices, like those found in union employment, to help to eliminate the wage gap,” Acting Secretary Su added.

Learn more about Equal Pay and Pay Transparency Protections.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh issued the following statement on the February 2023 Employment Situation Report:

“Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the American economy added 311,000 jobs in the month of February. With 12.4 million jobs added since President Biden took office, and an average of 351,000 jobs added per month over the past three months, this growth continues the steady, stable progress that is bringing opportunities to more workers and security to more families across the country. Growth was especially strong in the leisure and hospitality sector, as restaurants and bars added jobs, in retail trade, and in healthcare, where hospitals and nursing homes added significant numbers of jobs. The unemployment rate remained near its historic low, ticking up to 3.6 percent as more people continued to enter labor markets looking for work.

“Tomorrow marks the two-year anniversary of the President’s signing of the American Rescue Plan. At that time, the unemployment rate was 6.2 percent, millions of workers were still unable to return to work, and businesses across the country were struggling to reopen. Many experts were predicting that the unemployment rate would not return to four percent until 2026. Instead, under President Biden’s plan, the unemployment rate has now been under four percent for a full year, and in February, for the first time, labor force participation for adults between the ages of 25-54 is higher than it was before the pandemic. This remarkable recovery is a testament to the effectiveness of the President’s worker-centered policies and to the resilience and dedication of America’s workers.

“At the same time, we have the opportunity to keep helping more people return to work by ensuring there are good jobs for all workers and by addressing family care needs. The President’s budget proposal does just that, by investing in childcare solutions for millions of families and strengthening protections, supports, and training opportunities for workers in every community of our country.”

WASHINGTON – Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh convened the “Youth Employment Works Summit” today at U.S. Department of Labor headquarters to unveil the department’s strategy for building a workforce in which all young people can prepare for opportunities for high-quality careers.

Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves; public and private stakeholders in government, business, labor, non-profits and trade groups; and more than 150 youth employment experts and young people joined the Secretary to discuss how they can organize to deliver upon the strategy’s goals.

The summit included panel discussions that explored building pathways to good jobs for young people and centering federal agencies’ work on them, and how young people in disadvantaged communities or justice-involved youth can access the training and support services they need. The event also gave young workers an opportunity to describe their employment experiences and enabled stakeholders to share their priorities.

“Today is about critical partnerships. Every sector and every stakeholder have a role to play,” said Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh. “Establishing these partnerships is how we build the ‘no wrong door’ system. Wherever a young person reaches out: there needs to be a way into opportunity and a path forward into a career.”

The Youth Employment Works strategy centers on three goals:

• Ensuring the workforce system offers seamless access to job opportunities and supportive services for young people entering the labor force from all pathways.
• Encouraging partners across all public and private sectors to invest in workforce training and job services for all young people.
• Guaranteeing all young people – especially so called “opportunity youth,” between 16 and 24 who are neither employed nor enrolled in school who face barriers to accessible jobs – have access to paid work experiences aligned with high-quality career pathways that are safe and age appropriate.

Representatives from the departments of Commerce, Education and Transportation were on hand and underscored their agencies’ commitments to support the whole government approach to investing in employment opportunities for the future workforce.

Today’s summit aligns with the department’s ongoing effort to help connect people in historically marginalized populations and communities that disproportionately face employment barriers with good jobs.

Read Secretary Walsh’s call to action for all stakeholders.