WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration today announced an enforcement relief policy to provide retirement plan fiduciaries with an option to help manage small benefit amounts owed to individuals who cannot be located.

CHAMBERSBURG, PA – A Chambersburg soap and detergent manufacturer faces $161,310 in federal penalties after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation of a chemical gas release that sent a dozen workers to the hospital in July 2024.

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RALEIGH, NC – El Departamento de Trabajo de Estados Unidos ha excluido a un padre y a su hija de Snow Hill durante tres años de un programa federal por infracciones extensas de las regulaciones federales.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor announced that its Employee Benefits Security Administration today announced updates to its Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program, providing employers and other plan officials with more efficient ways to voluntarily correct compliance issues in retirement, health and other employee benefit plans. 

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RALEIGH, NC – The U.S. Department of Labor has debarred a Snow Hill-based father and daughter for three years from a federal program for widespread violations of federal regulations.

CHICAGO ‒ The U.S. Department of Labor has entered into an agreement with JBS USA Food Co. in which the nation’s leading meat packing processor and slaughterhouse will provide $4 million to assist individuals and communities affected by unlawful child labor practices nationwide.

The Jan. 13, 2025, agreement commits JBS to holding key elements of its supply chain, third-party contractors and service providers accountable for illegal child labor. They are also creating a targeted advertising campaign to raise awareness about unlawful child labor practices.

WASHINGTON – Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su issued the following statement on findings from the USDA on worker safety in poultry and swine plants:

“The findings in USDA’s report on worker safety in poultry and swine plants show that injuries, including chronic pain and musculoskeletal disorders are too common. These kinds of injuries often go unreported. 

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the availability of at least $25 million in grants to support training and employment services for incarcerated individuals before and after their release from state, county or local correctional facilities. By providing reentry services during incarceration and after release, these grants will help improve employment outcomes in the reentry process and reduce recidivism.

WICHITA, KS – The U.S. Department of Labor filed a federal lawsuit on Jan. 6, 2025, as part of its ongoing effort to recover wages and damages for 80 female entertainers of a Wichita gentlemen’s club that allegedly failed to pay full wages, illegally deducted fees from their tips and required them to reimburse the employer if litigation or an investigation ever recovered lost wages for the dancers.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. and Mexican governments have announced the successful resolution to a Rapid Response Labor Mechanism petition that alleged workers’ rights were denied at Vidrio Decorativo Occidental, a Tamaulipas, Mexico, glass door manufacturer. 

The result follows a Nov. 8, 2024, request by the U.S. for Mexico to review the VDO case under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement’s Rapid Response Labor Mechanism. 

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today released the results of its Mine Safety and Health Administration’s second Pattern of Violations screening in 2024 and announced that – for the first time since 2021 – none of the nation’s mines met the POV criteria for the existence of a pattern of violations under section 104(e) of the Mine Act. 

WASHINGTON – Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su issued the following statement on the December 2024 Employment Situation report:

“Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the American economy added 256,000 jobs in December, well above market expectations and reflecting a robust and resilient labor market. With unemployment ticking down to 4.1 percent and the three-month average of payroll employment gains at 170,000, this report underscores the strength of our economy as we close out 2024. 

WASHINGTON – Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su issued the following statement on the tentative agreement reached between the International Longshoremen's Association and the United States Maritime Alliance.

WASHINGTON – The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement’s Interagency Labor Committee for Monitoring and Enforcement today requested that the government of Mexico review an alleged denial of workers’ rights at Hulera Tornel S.A. de C.V., which runs tire manufacturing facilities in Mexico City and Tultitlán, Mexico.

SAN DIEGO – Seventy employees of two California ice manufacturers will receive their share of more than $1 million in back wages and damages recovered by the U.S. Department of Labor after investigators determined the companies’ common ownership withheld $527,687 in overtime earned by workers deliberately. 

In the week ending January 4, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 201,000, a decrease of 10,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 211,000. The 4-week moving average was 213,000, a decrease of 10,250 from the previous week's unrevised average of 223,250.

RIDGE SPRING, SC – More than 600 temporary agricultural workers are entitled to their share of more than $132,000 recovered by the U.S. Department of Labor from a Ridge Spring employer that illegally deducted money from their wages for political donations and cleaning fees.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of $1.6 million in funds to support continued disaster-relief employment and workforce training for Florida residents as the state continues its Hurricane Idalia recovery.

HARTFORD, CT – The U.S. Department of Labor has reached an administrative settlement with Rhode Island’s second largest hospital and Care New England Health System to recover a total of $1.9 million in back wages and liquidated damages for 853 healthcare workers who had to work through their breaks but were not paid properly for those hours worked during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of $627,124 to the Washington State Employment Security Department to continue providing disaster-relief jobs and employment and training services for people in southwest Washington communities affected significantly by the health and economic effects of widespread opioid use, addiction and overdose.