BOSTON – A federal administrative law judge has determined that New Hampshire general contractor Barry Billcliff, doing business as Merrimack Valley Roofing and under other alleged business names, willfully exposed his employees to fall safety hazards and held him personally liable for more than $160,000 in penalties and attorneys’ fees. 

CHICAGO – To make sure the holiday season is truly joyful, the U.S. Department of Labor reminds employers and workers not to overlook workplace safety and health. 

For a sad reminder of how an on-the-job tragedy can leave families, friends and co-workers grief-stricken, look no further than Akron, Ohio, where a 25-year-old worker — hanging holiday lights on a backyard tree — suffered severe electrical shock injuries and later died after the fiberglass extension pole he used on Nov. 7, 2023, made contact with a high-voltage power line.

WASHINGTON COURT HOUSE, OH – A federal investigation into how a 35-year-old worker suffered severe leg burns, degloving of their foot and other injuries after falling into corrosive chemicals in May 2023 has found that an Ohio meat processing plant’s safety failures exposed employees to hazardous conditions.

Participants:  

U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration

MEJA Construction Inc.

Georgia Institute of Technology On-Site Safety and Health Consultation Program

What:  Strategic safety partnership

PHILADELPHIA ‒ The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that it has renewed a Regional Emphasis Program to focus inspections in three mid-Atlantic states and the District of Columbia on industries with high levels of workplace noise, which can contribute to worker hearing loss.

DETROIT, MI – A federal court has ordered the owner of a Michigan senior home care services company be imprisoned if she continues to ignore a March 2023 federal court order to provide U.S. Department of Labor investigators with time and pay records, despite being in contempt of court since Sept. 27, 2023, and assessed $250 for each day she refused to comply. 

OCONOMOWOC, WI – A U.S. Department of Labor investigation has found 21 construction companies working on a federally assisted construction project violated federal laws, leading to the recovery of more than $1.2 million in prevailing and overtime wages for 142 construction workers who built a 302-unit housing development in Oconomowoc.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that its Mine Safety and Health Administration completed impact inspections at 13 mines in 10 states in October 2023, issuing 215 violations.

MSHA began impact inspections after an April 2010 explosion in West Virginia at the Upper Big Branch Mine killed 29 miners.

SUAMICO, WI – After an Overhead Solutions LLC manager attended an on-site training discussion on fall hazards on May 25, 2023, federal workplace safety inspectors observed the company’s employees working about 30 feet above ground on a Menasha apartment complex roof without adequate fall protection. 

PITTSBURGH – An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor has found the operator of five McDonald’s franchise locations in the greater Pittsburgh area employed 34 children to work later and longer than permitted by child labor laws.

The department’s Wage and Hour Division learned Endor Inc., based in Cranberry Township, violated federal child labor regulations by employing 14- and 15-year-old children to work outside permissible hours as follows:

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the publication of a final rule that revises federal regulations that govern the Employment Service, the nationwide system of public employment offices.

In the week ending November 18, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 209,000, a decrease of 24,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 2,000 from 231,000 to 233,000. The 4-week moving average was 220,000, a decrease of 750 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 500 from 220,250 to 220,750.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of up to $6 million in grant funding for the Solidarity Center to advance quality jobs and labor rights in Indonesia and the Philippines.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced that Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su has appointed two new members of the Administrative Review Board. 

LOS ANGELES – El Departamento de Trabajo de EE. UU. recuperó US$481.357 de una empresa de pintura y revestimiento de paredes de Burbank que defraudó a 117 trabajadores al no pagarles los salarios obligatorios por las horas extras y luego dijo repetidamente a los investigadores federales que los empleados no habían trabajado horas extras.

LOS ANGELES – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $481,357 from a Burbank paint and wall covering company who shortchanged 117 workers by failing to pay required overtime wages and then told federal investigators repeatedly that the employees had not worked overtime hours.

WASHINGTON – The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement’s Interagency Labor Committee for Monitoring and Enforcement today requested the government of Mexico review an allegation that workers’ rights are being denied at the Autoliv auto parts plant in Querétaro, Mexico. 

COLUMBIA, SC – A U.S. Department of Labor investigation has recovered $139,975 in back wages from a Spartanburg home healthcare provider that wrongly exempted 29 employees from overtime and failed to pay them proper wages in violation of federal regulations.

Employers:    Poros Inc., operating as Bentley’s Pancake House

Pete and Stavroula Giafis,owners 

Actions:          Fair Labor Standards Act consent order and judgment

Court: U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois