SAN DIEGO – While dozens of companies along the U.S. border in California hire workers from Mexico to labor as warehouse and logistics’ workers in scores of non-descript buildings, U.S. Department of Labor investigators and attorneys are also working hard – to prevent exploitation of these workers and hold employers accountable.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor has awarded more than $189 million to workforce agencies in 49 states, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia to operate their Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessments programs. This award is a $40 million increase over the previous year.

Participant:    Pfizer Inc.  Andover, Massachusetts

ATLANTA – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration is partnering with several construction organizations to promote worker safety through a safety stand down taking place at Georgia construction sites and traffic work zones, April 11-15.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration today announced that the department is extending the public comment period for proposed amendments to its procedures governing the filing and processing of Prohibited Transaction Exemption Applications by an additional 45 days, through May 29, 2022.

Employer name: 1802 Atlantic Co., operating as Cinnabon & Auntie Anne’s

Employer address: 1802 Atlantic Ave., Virginia Beach, VA 23451

LAS VEGAS – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division is asking businesses in Nevada’s highway construction industries to complete a survey to help the division establish prevailing wage rates, as required by the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts.

In the week ending April 2, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 166,000, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised down by 31,000 from 202,000 to 171,000. The 4-week moving average was 170,000, a decrease of 8,000 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised down by 30,500 from 208,500 to 178,000.

GRAIN VALLEY, MO – Nearly five years after an employee died in a trench collapse, a Missouri contractor exposed two workers to the life-threatening risk of being buried by thousands of pounds of soil as they worked in an unprotected trench weakened by water pooling in an excavation site.

Employer:     

El Charro 4 Inc., operating as El Charro Mexican Restaurant, 1580 South Main St., Harrisonburg  

El Charro Mexican Restaurant, operating as El Charro Inc.,1570 East Market St. Harrisonburg   

El Charro 7 Mexican Restaurant LLC, operating as El Charro 7 Mexican Restaurant, 300 N. Main St., Bridgewater

Employer: Romark Laboratories LC

Investigation sites: 3000 Bayport Drive, Tampa FL  and  Carr 686 Km 1.5 Coto Norte, Manati, Puerto Rico

DETROIT – A Detroit law firm paid its administrative and support staff workers a salary for all hours worked but failed to pay at least 36 workers the overtime wages they earned. Investigators with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division determined that, while the employees of McKeen & Associates P.C.

CIUDAD DE MÉXICO– Durante una visita oficial a México, la subsecretaria del Trabajo de los Estados Unidos, Julie Su, anunció hoy nuevas inversiones del departamento para apoyar el fortalecimiento de los derechos de los trabajadores, la promoción de la libertad de asociación, el derecho a la negociación colectiva y la eliminación del trabajo infantil y forzado.

MEXICO CITY– During an official visit to Mexico, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Labor Julie Su today announced new investments by the department to support strengthening workers’ rights, promoting freedom of association, the right to bargain collectively, and the elimination of child and forced labor.

SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Department of Labor has ordered a San Jose trucking company to pay more than $145,000 in back wages and damages after a federal whistleblower investigation found the company retaliated against two workers who refused to drive commercial motor vehicles when they felt too sick or fatigued to drive safely.

WEST COLUMBIA, SC – When federal investigators inspected a West Columbia used auto dealer, they found the employer’s pay practices violated wage laws, leading to the recovery of more than $64,566 in back wages and liquidated damages for 24 workers.

MOBILE, AL – The illegal pay practices of a Louisville, Kentucky, staffing agency that provides aviation maintenance and repair workers to airlines nationwide shortchanged workers in Mobile, a U.S. Department of Labor investigation has found.

WASHINGTON ‒ Grain flowing inside a bin can trap and engulf a worker in seconds, and makes for a sobering fact: nearly six of every 10 workers trapped in a grain bin don’t survive.

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

Employers:                            JJ Pizza Service LLC and S&S Pizza LLC – both operating as Little Caesars

Investigation sites:               

                                                5305 Mt. View Road, Antioch 37013

                                                1202 S. James Campbell Blvd., Columbia 38401