In the week ending March 19, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 187,000, a decrease of 28,000 from the previous week's revised level. This is the lowest level for initial claims since September 6, 1969 when it was 182,000. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 214,000 to 215,000. The 4-week moving average was 211,750, a decrease of 11,500 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 250 from 223,000 to 223,250.

PITTSBURGH – Following litigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of the Solicitor, a federal court has entered a consent judgment against three restaurants – one in Pennsylvania and two in West Virginia – and their owners after investigators found they paid back-of-the-house employees off-the-books salaries for all hours worked and denied them overtime pay for hours worked over 40 in a workweek.

WASHINGTON – American Indians and Alaska Natives have traditionally faced higher unemployment rates and lower workforce participation, and attained lower levels of education – subjecting them to lower wages, fewer career opportunities and a continued cycle of unemployment and poverty.

Employers:                William Specialty Services LLC

                                    100 Crescent Centre Parkway, Tucker, GA 30084
 

                                    G UB MK Constructors

                                    297 River Road, Muscle Shoals, AL 35661
 

                                    Tennessee Valley Authority

WASHINGTON – Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda today issued a statement on the Department of Labor’s filing of an amicus in a case now before the National Labor Relations Board. The brief argues the validity of a confidentiality provision in a mandatory arbitration agreement imposed on employees by Ralph’s Grocery Company.

“Confidentiality agreements pose a direct threat to effective enforcement of the country’s worker protection laws.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has reopened the rulemaking record partially and scheduled an informal public hearing to seek comments on specific topics that relate to the development of a final standard to protect healthcare and healthcare support service workers from workplace exposure to the COVID-19 virus.

GOOSE CREEK, SC - Un restaurante de Goose Creek no pagó a 21 trabajadores y permitió que empleados menores de edad trabajaran más horas de las permitidas por ley, según ha revelado una investigación del Departamento de Trabajo de EE.UU.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy today announced a webinar, “How Blended, Braided or Sequenced Funding can Help Drive Employment, Equity and Inclusion,” will be held on March 22 at 3 p.m. EDT, as part of its ongoing efforts to advance competitive integrated employment for people with disabilities.

GOOSE CREEK, SC – A Goose Creek restaurant shortchanged 21 workers and allowed minor-aged employees to work more hours than the law permits, a U.S. Department of Labor investigation has revealed.

STERLING, MA – A U.S. Department of Labor investigation found that a plastic packaging manufacturer – with a history of workplace safety and health inspections – could have prevented a worker at its Sterling facility from suffering severe burns if they had complied with OSHA’s requirements for lockout/tagout and provided personal protective equipment.

WASHINGTON – With opioid-related overdoses linked to 3,237 deaths in Ohio in 2018, and the state’s neonatal units reporting higher rates of newborns suffering opioid withdrawal, opioid abuse remains a serious health emergency.

WASHINGTON – The U.S.

INDEPENDENCE, VA – Following a U.S. Department of Labor investigation, and an administrative law judge’s order, 20 temporary agricultural workers who traveled from Mexico to help provide pumpkins, Christmas trees and produce for Mid-Atlantic consumers will be paid $19,988 in back wages by an Independence farm. The farm will also pay $36,000 in civil money penalties.

Who: 

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

Associated General Contractors of America

The Center for Construction Research and Training

Center to Protect Workers’ Rights

SEATTLE – An ongoing federal initiative to investigate pay practices of residential builders in Washington State found that a Lacey contractor recklessly failed to pay workers overtime for hours they worked over 40 in a workweek in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

HONOLULU –The U.S. Department of Labor recovered $62,908 in back wages and liquidated damages for 42 workers after an investigation found the operators of five Hawaii restaurants denied them overtime pay and allowed a manager and other employees to take a portion of the workers’ tips illegally.

ATLANTA - La División de Horas y Salarios del Departamento de Trabajo de los Estados Unidos continúa con su iniciativa plurianual de formación y cumplimiento de la ley para aumentar el cumplimiento de las leyes laborales federales en la industria agrícola del sureste. Además de la actividad de cumplimiento de la ley, la iniciativa proporciona asistencia para el cumplimiento a los empleadores y forma a los trabajadores y otras partes interesadas.

ALBANY, NY – The U.S. Department of Labor filed suit against a New York ophthalmologist and his practice in Amsterdam for allegedly firing an employee who raised concerns about the practice’s failure to implement state-mandated protocols to protect employees from COVID-19, and later filed complaints with state health officials.

ATLANTA – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division is continuing its multi-year education and enforcement initiative to increase compliance with federal labor laws in the Southeast’s agricultural industry. In addition to enforcement activity, the initiative provides compliance assistance to employers and educates workers and other stakeholders.

In the week ending March 12, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claimswas 214,000, a decrease of 15,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 2,000 from 227,000 to 229,000. The 4-week moving average was 223,000, a decrease of 8,750 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 500 from 231,250 to 231,750.