WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that its Mine Safety and Health Administration is hosting the annual Training Resources Applied to Mining conference at the National Mine Health and Safety Academy in Beaver, West Virginia, from Oct. 11 to 13.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor will publish a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Oct. 13 to help employers and workers determine whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

BIRMINGHAM, AL – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a federal court order to stop an Alexander City manufacturer of Hyundai and Kia auto parts from employing 13-, 14- and 15-year-old workers illegally, and to prevent the company from shipping or delivering any goods produced in violation of federal child labor laws.

IRVING, TX – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration ordered ExxonMobil Corp. to immediately reinstate two employees and pay them more than $800,000 in back wages, interest and compensatory damages. A federal whistleblower investigation found the company terminated them illegally after suspecting them of leaking information to the Wall Street Journal.

WASHINGTON – Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh joined other Department of Labor officials to meet with a group of immigrant workers and worker advocates in Washington on Oct. 6, 2022, to discuss the importance of protecting these workers and strengthening relationships among those committed to their well-being.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh issued the following statement on the September 2022 Employment Situation Report:

SUFFOLK, VA – A Suffolk construction staffing agency and its owner who intentionally misclassified workers as independent contractors – a serious form of wage theft – must pay $278,073, in back wages and liquidated damages to 208 construction workers following an investigation and litigation by the U.S. Department of Labor.

APPLETON, WI – Bacilio Rios, an Appleton roofing contractor who has shown callous disregard for employees’ safety and scoffed at federal safety requirements since 2009, now faces $301,512 in penalties after a U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspector observed four roofing workers at heights greater than 8 feet without protection to prevent serious or fatal injuries. 

WHEELING, WV – A Millersburg, Ohio, contractor with a long history of disregarding workplace safety standards now faces more than $1 million in penalties after an inspection by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration found their employees working at dangerous heights without fall protection, this time at a West Virginia work site.

MILLVILLE, NJ – A Pennsylvania-based metal coatings company that enacted a comprehensive safety and health program to protect workers at its corporate headquarters failed to do the same for employees at a manufacturing facility it opened in the fall of 2021 in Millville, a federal workplace safety investigation has found.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a final rule to amend H-2A temporary labor certification regulations to protect agricultural workers better, and to update the H-2A application and temporary labor certification process. The final rule will be published in the Federal Register on Oct. 12, 2022.

In the week ending October 1, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 219,000, an increase of 29,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised down by 3,000 from 193,000 to 190,000. The 4-week moving average was 206,500, an increase of 250 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised down by 750 from 207,000 to 206,250.

CHESAPEAKE, VA – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a default judgment to recover $703,609 in back wages and liquidated damages for 38 employees denied overtime pay by a Chesapeake home healthcare company and its owner who also retaliated against workers for cooperating with federal investigators.

ALEXANDRIA, VA – The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit against a cybersecurity provider and federal contractor in Alexandria after an investigation found the employer allegedly fired an employee with a disability for having a disability and requesting a reasonable accommodation.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of $10.5 million in grants to organizations in 43 states, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands to provide safety and health training designed to reduce and prevent mining workers’ injuries and illnesses. 

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of $985,284 in grants to support the development and delivery of education and training by 10 organizations that will help identify, avoid and prevent unsafe working conditions in, and around the nation’s mines.

NEW KENSINGTON, PA – The U.S. Department of Labor has entered into an early resolution conciliation agreement with one of the nation’s largest uniform providers to pay $104,568, in back pay and interest to 37 former and current female employees in the company’s New Kensington production facility to resolve alleged pay discrimination identified in a routine audit.

DUDLEY, MO ‒ A federal workplace safety investigation alleges that a Dexter construction contractor might have prevented a pipelayer’s fatal injuries in a trench collapse on April 8, 2022, if the company had used trench safety protection measures as required by law.

The worker was installing storm water drainage in an 8-foot-deep trench along Old Highway 60 in Dudley when the tragedy occurred.

HOUSTON – The U.S. Department of Labor has entered into a conciliation agreement with a leading armored security provider to the financial industry to resolve alleged systemic race- and gender-based hiring discrimination at its Houston facility.

HARTFORD, CT – An investigation and litigation by the U.S. Department of Labor have resulted in a federal court ordering three bakeries located in Danbury, Connecticut, and Mount Vernon, New York, and their owner/officer to pay nearly $1 million in back wages and liquidated damages to 74 employees to resolve violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act.