💰Now available: millions in new apprenticeship grants

We’re making nearly $200 million in grants available to support efforts to create high-quality training pathways in key industries, Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su and White House Domestic Policy Advisor Neera Tanden announced this week. The funding includes $95 million through the Apprenticeship Building America Grant Program and $100 million in the second round of State Apprenticeship Expansion Formula grants. 

“These grants serve as another avenue toward strengthening the nation’s workforce development infrastructure to connect people from all communities to the good jobs being created by President Biden’s Investing in America agenda,” said Acting Secretary Su.

Last weekend, Acting Secretary Su and Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona took over the White House X (formerly Twitter) and Threads accounts to celebrate Career and Technical Education Month and highlight some of the ways both departments are supporting career and technical education. Among the actions they highlighted was a recent trip to Pittsburgh, one of President Biden’s five Workforce Hubs preparing young Americans for jobs, where they talked with apprentices about how the Workforce Hub has changed their lives.

• Read the White House X takeover posts
• Read the White House Threads takeover posts

We recovered more than $1 million in minimum and overtime wages for 859 home healthcare workers employed by two Texas companies. Illegal pay practices remain a systemic problem in the home healthcare industry.

We’ve made $20 million in grants available to help deliver information technology training and job services to Job Corps students.

We’ve asked a federal court to issue a nationwide temporary restraining order and injunction against Fayette Janitorial Service LLC, operating as Fayette Industrial, to stop the Tennessee-based company from illegally employing children at meat processing facilities while we continue investigating the company’s labor practices.

Following two convictions in October, the U.S. Department of Justice has sentenced six more Didion Milling company officials for their role in a deadly explosion that killed five workers in Wisconsin. One official was convicted for obstructing OSHA’s investigation. Two provided false testimony to OSHA in their sworn statements. 

“The court’s sentences hold the company and these individuals accountable and send a clear message that cover-ups related to workplace safety will not be tolerated,” said Acting Secretary Su.

A New York landscaping company will pay 54 workers $1.1 million after our investigators found overtime and H-2B program violations.

We’re suing a company that allegedly mismanaged millions in fringe benefits owed to employees of at least 54 government service contractors across the country.

We’ve requested that the government of Mexico review a petition filed by workers at a guacamole facility alleging labor rights violations.

From Soul Train to Rosa Parks to disability advocacy, Tonya Brown reflects on her heritage and the path that led her to our Office of Disability Employment Policy.

OSHA fined a New Jersey steel fabrication company $348,683 for willfully exposing workers to hazards that had previously been identified by a safety consultant but not corrected.

We're sharing the benefits of using available resources through your health plan coverage to promote preventative care and take control of your heart health.

Key Women’s Bureau resources are available in Spanish, including sample employment agreements for domestic workers, wage gap facts and a map of state paid leave laws.

Register to attend our March 5 webinar on addressing gender-based violence and harassment in the construction industry.

Our Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs has new resources to help veterans and employers understand employment discrimination protections under the law.

• Promising practices for veterans
• Veteran-employment law compliance guidance for federal contractors

February is #BlackHistoryMonth. To continue our celebration, we chatted with four of our great employees in Nashville, Tennessee. Check out the article to learn about their career journeys and what inspires them to serve the public.
-Wage and Hour Division

• Clarion Ledger: Acting U.S. Labor Secretary pledges to enforce federal labor laws in Mississippi   
• Mississippi Public Broadcasting: Labor Secretary Su meets with Latino poultry industry workers facing abuse, threats 
• The Guardian: ‘It has really gotten out of hand’: wage theft rampant in US construction