July 28, 2022

Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report

In the week ending July 23, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 256,000, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 10,000 from 251,000 to 261,000. The 4-week moving average was 249,250, an increase of 6,250 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 2,500 from 240,500 to 243,000.

July 27, 2022

Judge orders concessions operator that shortchanged temporary workers with H-2B visas to pay $203K in back wages, penalties

MINNEAPOLIS – An administrative law judge has dismissed a Minnesota company’s notice of contest and affirmed the U.S. Department of Labor finding that the employer violated a federal program that allows foreign, non-agricultural workers with H-2B visas to temporarily work in the U.S.

July 27, 2022

Pompano Beach contractor’s failure to heed prior violation left roofing workers unprotected, investigation into employee’s 25-foot fatal fall finds

DAVIE, FL – In 2018, federal workplace safety investigators cited a Pompano Beach roofing contractor who exposed its workers to the construction industry’s most lethal hazard, falls from elevation. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration determined that the company’s failure to heed that warning claimed the life of a 25-year-old worker in February 2022.

July 27, 2022

US Department of Labor renews ‘Star Level’ designation of Veolia ES Technical Solutions LLC for workplace safety, health achievements

Participant:   Veolia ES Technical Solutions LLC, Charlestown, Massachusetts

Description:   Veolia ES Technical Solutions LLC, which employs about 65 workers in Charlestown, provides hazardous waste management, shipment and disposal as well as environmental services for businesses in the Northeast.

July 26, 2022

US Department of Labor finds Virginia tech, engineering contractor underpaid 63 workers $268K in pay, benefits on government-funded project

HAVELOCK, NC – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $268,014 in back wages for 63 workers of a Reston, Virginia, technical and engineering contractor who denied them a portion of their wages and benefits while they worked on a Department of Defense project in Havelock.

July 26, 2022

US Department of Labor proposes amendment to Qualified Professional Asset Manager Exemption to protect benefits plans, participants, beneficiaries

WASHINGTON The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration today announced a proposed amendment to the Class Prohibited Transaction Exemption 84-14, also known as the Qualified Professional Asset Manager Exemption, to ensure the exemption continues to protect plans, participants and beneficiaries, individual retirement account owners and their interests.

July 25, 2022

US Department of Labor recovers $115K in back wages, damages for 36 workers after investigation finds New Jersey car wash operator denied overtime

FRANKLIN PARK, NJ – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division has recovered $115,801 in back wages and damages for 36 workers after an investigation found their employer denied them overtime pay at two New Jersey car washes.

July 25, 2022

Department of Labor awards Cherokee Nation $1.3M in incremental funds for pandemic workforce recovery, humanitarian support

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced an incremental award of $1.3 million to the Cherokee Nation to support continued disaster-relief employment and employment and training services in response to the coronavirus pandemic’s effects on its people.

July 25, 2022

US Department of Labor investigation finds Gulf Breeze restaurant denied sushi chefs overtime, violated child labor laws

GULF BREEZE, FL A federal investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor at a Gulf Breeze restaurant found several pay practice and child labor violations, including the failure to pay sushi chefs overtime wages due and the employment of 15-year-old workers for more hours per week than the law allows.

July 22, 2022

US Department of Labor proposes more than $330K in penalties to Family Dollar Stores Inc. for workplace safety failures

ORLANDO, FL – The U.S. Department of Labor has proposed $330,446 in penalties to a Family Dollar store in Orlando after an investigation into a fatal shoplifting incident uncovered willful and repeat safety violations.

July 22, 2022

US Department of Labor seeks input from Georgia’s highway construction industry for wage survey to establish accurate prevailing wage rates

ATLANTA – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division is asking the highway construction industry of Georgia to participate in a survey to help the agency establish prevailing wage rates, as required under the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts.

July 21, 2022

US government seeks Mexico’s review of allegations that workers’ rights to associate, collectively bargain were denied at Coahuila auto parts plant

WASHINGTON The U.S. government today requested the Mexican government review whether the rights of free association and collective bargaining have been denied to workers at the VU Manufacturing parts facility in Piedras Negras, Coahuila. 

July 21, 2022

Readout: Secretary Walsh, Spain’s Labor Minister Yolanda Díaz Pérez reaffirm joint commitment to strengthening worker voice, social equity, wage protections

WASHINGTON U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh and Spain’s Second Vice President and Minister of Labor and Social Economy Yolanda Díaz Pérez met in Washington on July 20, 2022, to sign a Memorandum of Understanding that reasserts both countries’ commitment to addressing a wide range of concerns affecting workers and underserved populations. 

July 21, 2022

US Department of Labor recovers $290K for 95 food truck-restaurant workers whose Maui employer intentionally denied them full wages

MAUI – A federal investigation has recovered $290,314 in rightfully earned wages and damages owed to 95 workers after the pay practices of their employer – the operator of five Maui food truck-restaurants – willfully denied them their full wages.

July 21, 2022

US Department of Labor heat awareness campaign seeks to protect farmworkers, educate industry employers, others as temperatures soar

DALLAS – To prevent the dangers of heat illness as summer heat descends on the Southwest’s farmworkers, the U.S. Department of Labor is taking immediate measures to raise awareness of the hazards faced by those working to maintain the nation’s food supply.

July 21, 2022

US Department of Labor recognizes Billings’ refinery testing team for workplace safety, health excellence with ‘Star’ designation

BILLINGS, MT – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has certified Team Inc., which performs nondestructive testing at the Phillips 66 Refinery in Billings, as a “Star” employer in the agency’s Voluntary Protection Programs.

July 21, 2022

Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report

In the week ending July 16, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 251,000, an increase of 7,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 244,000. The 4-week moving average was 240,500, an increase of 4,500 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 250 from 235,750 to 236,000.

July 20, 2022

El Departamento de Trabajo de EE. UU. recupera $56,000 para 31 gerentes después de que una franquicia de Taco Bell aplicara erróneamente las normas de salarios por horas extras

NEW BERN, NC - Una investigación del Departamento de Trabajo ha recuperado $56,900 para 31 subgerentes generales empleados por el operador de seis franquicias de Taco Bell en Carolina del Norte que les pagaron de menos al negarles de forma incorrecta el pago de horas extras.

July 20, 2022

US Department of Labor seeks input from Nevada’s highway construction industry for wage survey to establish accurate prevailing wage rates

LAS VEGAS The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division is asking Nevada’s highway construction industry to participate in a survey to help the agency establish prevailing wage rates, as required under the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts.