May 6, 2024

US Department of Labor finds Chicago-area medical glass manufacturer again ignoring machine safety procedures, issues repeat violations

CHICAGO HEIGHTS, IL – A follow-up workplace safety inspection at a metro Chicago manufacturer of medical glass bottles and vials found the company continues to fail in its obligation to protect workers by training them in machine safety procedures.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration returned to Gerresheimer Glass Inc., in Chicago Heights on Jan. 31, 2024, to verify compliance after inspections in October and December 2022 found workers exposed to machine hazards. 

May 3, 2024

Department of Labor will celebrate benefits of Registered Apprenticeships as valuable pathway to good jobs during first Youth Apprenticeship Week

WASHINGTON – The Department of Labor today announced that the nation will celebrate the benefits of Registered Apprenticeships and the opportunities they create for youth and young adults with 320 special events and more than 70 proclamations scheduled across the U.S. to mark the first annual Youth Apprenticeship Week from May 5-11. 

May 3, 2024

Statement by Acting Secretary of Labor Su on April jobs report

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su issued the following statement on the April 2024 Employment Situation report: 

“Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the American economy added 175,000 jobs in April, and the unemployment rate was 3.9 percent. This continues the longest stretch of such low unemployment in more than a half century.  

May 2, 2024

Department of Labor finds children employed illegally in dangerous jobs, obtains $4.8M in wages, damages for poultry industry workers in California

WASHINGTON – In one of the largest wage violation settlements ever reached for U.S. poultry workers, a federal court in Los Angeles has entered a consent judgment that orders Fu Qian Chen Lu, Bruce Shu Hua Lok and others as owners and operators of a network of California poultry processors and distributors to pay $4.8 million in back wages and damages to 476 workers and $221,919 in penalties after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation. 

May 2, 2024

Departments of Labor, Treasury announce partnership to make federal fraud prevention tool available to state unemployment insurance agencies

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Departments of Labor and Treasury today announced a new data-sharing partnership, the latest effort to support a multi-layered approach to fraud prevention by providing states with controls, tools and strategies to identify and combat unemployment insurance fraud. 

May 2, 2024

Sysco West Coast Florida to pay $133K in back wages, interest to resolve hiring discrimination alleged in federal review

PALMETTO, FL – A subsidiary of one of the nation’s largest food service distributors has entered into a conciliation agreement with the Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs and will pay $133,625 in back wages and interest to resolve alleged hiring discrimination by Sysco West Coast Florida Inc. at its Palmetto facility against 95 female applicants for outbound selector positions.  

May 2, 2024

Department of Labor investigation of Boston window cleaner’s 29-story fall finds employer again failed to inspect, replace protective equipment

BRAINTREE, MA  The U.S. Department of Labor has determined an East Boston window cleaning company’s failure to inspect and replace damaged or defective equipment contributed to an employee’s fatal 29-story fall from a building in downtown Boston’s financial district in October 2023.

May 2, 2024

Department of Labor awards $98M in grants to support training, employment services to young people, increase apprenticeships in high-demand careers

WASHINGTON – The Department of Labor today announced the award of $98 million in grants to 72 organizations in 30 states and Guam to provide training and employment services in an ongoing effort to expand access to apprenticeship opportunities, prepare young workers for quality jobs and strengthen the nation’s workforce to meet industry demands. 

May 2, 2024

Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report

In the week ending April 27, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 208,000, unchanged from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 207,000 to 208,000. The 4-week moving average was 210,000, a decrease of 3,500 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 250 from 213,250 to 213,500.

May 1, 2024

Department of Labor recovers $538K in back wages, damages from Maryland residential rehabilitation provider for 37 landscaping workers denied full pay

Department of Labor recovers $538K in back wages, damages from Maryland residential rehabilitation provider for 37 landscaping workers denied full pay

Employer:                  

Divine Connect Care Inc.

Location:                    

3311 Toledo Terrace

May 1, 2024

Department of Labor recovers $422K in back wages, damages for 219 workers employed by home care providers in Baton Rouge, Greensburg, Shreveport 

 NEW ORLEANS  While people employed in the home care industry are among the nation’s lowest paid workers and are routinely expected to work long hours to help those in need, these workers are too often shortchanged by their employers’ unfair and illegal pay practices. 

May 1, 2024

US Department of Labor finds prominent South Carolina shipyard ignored federal measures that could have prevented 41-year-old worker’s fatal fall

NORTH CHARLESTON, SC – A major East Coast ship repair and servicing company’s failure to make safety its #1 priority, a promise made on its website, has led to another employee fatality — the fourth in five years — a U.S. Department of Labor workplace safety inspection has found.   

May 1, 2024

Department of Labor investigation into visiting nurse’s death finds home care agency failed to protect workers against workplace violence

HARTFORD, CT – A federal workplace safety investigation following the death of a licensed practical nurse during an Oct. 28, 2023, home visit in Willimantic, Connecticut, found one of the nation’s largest home-based care providers did not provide adequate safeguards to protect the nurse, Joyce Grayson, and other employees from the dangers of workplace violence. 

May 1, 2024

US Department of Labor finds Georgia construction contractor could have prevented 31-year-old worker’s fatal fall in Arcadia

ARCADIA, FL – A Georgia construction contractor’s failure to enforce safety regulations at an Arcadia worksite led to a 31-year-old steel erector suffering fatal fall injuries, an incident caused by the same workplace safety violations for which federal inspectors cited the employer just 10 months earlier.

May 1, 2024

Department of Labor announces Advisory Board on Toxic Substances, Worker Health will meet May 8-9 in Oak Ridge, Tennessee

WASHINGTON – The Department of Labor today announced the Advisory Board on Toxic Substances and Worker Health for Part E of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act will hold an online meeting from May 8-9, 2024, in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Meetings are open to the public.

The act provides compensation and medical benefits to nuclear weapons workers diagnosed with medical conditions caused by their exposure to toxic substances at covered nuclear facilities.

May 1, 2024

Department of Labor announces $6.5M in available grants to provide housing services for farmworkers, dependents

WASHINGTON – The Department of Labor today announced the availability of $6.5 million in grants to help organizations improve their delivery of safe and sanitary housing solutions for migrant and seasonal farmworkers and their dependents.

April 30, 2024

US Department of Labor recovers $52K owed to workers with disabilities by Amarillo nonprofit operator that underpaid wages

AMARILLO, TX – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $52,497 in back wages for 134 workers with disabilities after an Amarillo nonprofit – which provides rehabilitation and vocational training services to adults with developmental and physical disabilities – failed to pay them the required subminimum wage rate.

April 30, 2024

Department of Labor seeking input from North Carolina highway construction industry for wage survey to establish prevailing wage rates

RALEIGH, NC – The Department of Labor is encouraging employers and stakeholders in North Carolina’s highway construction industry to participate in a statewide survey to help its Wage and Hour Division establish prevailing wage rates for construction workers on federally funded and assisted construction projects.

April 30, 2024

Department of Labor to provide benefits outreach in Overland Park, Kansas for current, former nuclear weapons workers

WASHINGTON – The Department of Labor will host an information session in Overland Park, Kansas, on May 8, 2024, for current and former nuclear weapons workers and their families employed at covered facilities on the benefits available under the federal Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act. 

April 30, 2024

Department of Labor announces findings of March 2024 impact inspections completed at 14 mines with histories of repeated health, safety violations

WASHINGTON  The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that its Mine Safety and Health Administration completed impact inspections at 14 mines in 11 states in March 2024, issuing 199 violations and one safeguard.

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