Millions recovered for underpaid workers

A federal court has awarded $35.8 million to 6,000 workers after finding that 15 Pennsylvania healthcare employers violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by willfully denying overtime pay and failing to keep accurate records.

We’ve released a new toolkit with resources to help employers recruit, hire, retain and advance workers with disabilities in construction, manufacturing and clean energy jobs.

We’ve recouped more than $1.5 million in unpaid overtime wages and damages from a heating, ventilation and air conditioning company that deprived 430 technicians of their legal rights, protections and benefits by misclassifying them as independent contractors.

Leggett & Platt has agreed to pay $407,402 in back wages and interest to resolve alleged hiring discrimination against 308 Black, white and Hispanic applicants.

We’re making $45 million available in funding to support programs to provide skills training through work-based learning, employment services, educational support and mentorship to young adults in communities affected by violence, crime and poverty.

We've recovered $1,091,515 in back wages for 43 employees after finding they were underpaid. Following an acquisition, federal contractor KBRwyle Technology Solutions LLC changed the title of quality control inspectors from “supply technicians” to “technical instructors,” leading to lower pay for the same work.

The Mine Safety and Health Administration completed impact inspections in June 2024 and cited mine operators for 195 violations. “The Biden-Harris administration’s continued focus on good jobs includes using enforcement tools to identify and eliminate hazards so miners are able to return home each day to their families and their communities safe and healthy,” said MSHA Assistant Secretary Chris Williamson.

Following a whistleblower investigation, Maersk Line Limited will change its safety reporting policies and compensate a seaman who was terminated after reporting concerns to the Coast Guard.

The owner of three Nevada restaurants must pay $475,385 in back wages and damages to 32 workers for wrongfully denying their overtime wages.

We released the poster for this year’s National Disability Employment Awareness Month.

CSC Holdings will pay $80K to resolve alleged gender-based hiring discrimination against 17 female job applicants.

You asked and we answered: What is worker voice and how does it work? Watch our new video to find out.

Research suggests mental illness may be underdiagnosed and underreported among people of color, but we have resources to help everyone use their job-based mental health benefits.

Twice in less than two weeks, OSHA inspectors found an Indiana contractor exposing employees to deadly risks of falls from elevation while they did framing work at a residential construction site.

We’ve asked Mexico to review Impro Industries, a Chinese-owned parts manufacturer in San Luis Potosí, based on findings that workers’ rights were denied.

Disability prevalence among business owners, by industry, ranges from a high of 4% in mining and the “other services” industries to a low of 1.8% in the “management of companies” industry. The professional services industry has the highest number of business owners at 716,000. A new blog from our Office of Disability Employment Policy explores these and other data related to disability and entrepreneurship.

On average, unionized workers earn 18% more than their non-union counterparts. And 93% of unionized workers have access to a retirement plan compared with 66% of non-union workers. Learn more at WORKcenter.gov. #Olympics 

-@USDOL

• Dallas News: Department of Labor recovers $1.5M in back wages, damages from Dallas-based HVAC company 
• Simple Flying: United Airlines Under US Labor Department Investigation Over New Sick Leave Policy
• Houston Public Media: U.S. Department of Labor lawsuit alleges Houston area restaurants spent employee tips on condiments, to-go packaging 
• Chron.com: $1M federal grant set to help laid-off Tesla employees 

Editor's note: This newsletter has been edited to correct an error in the Leggett & Platt story. The original incorrectly stated that the money had been recovered for 315 workers.