GAINESVILLE, GA – On Jan. 28, 2021, an uncontrolled release of liquid nitrogen at a Gainesville poultry processing facility claimed the lives of six workers. Less than two months later, workers were again subjected to a chemical release at the plant, after an ammonia leak on March 11.

HOUSTON – En el candente mercado de viviendas de Houston, los empleadores del sector de la construcción están pidiendo a los trabajadores que se mantengan al día con la demanda. A cambio, los trabajadores esperan que se les pague por su duro trabajo y por todas las horas que trabajan – una promesa que un contratista de albañilería de Tomball no cumplió, según una investigación del Departamento de Trabajo de los Estados Unidos.

HOUSTON – In Houston’s hot housing market, construction industry employers are calling on workers to keep up with demand. In return, workers expect to be paid for all their hard work and for all the hours they work – a promise that a Tomball masonry contractor failed to keep, a U.S. Department of Labor investigation has found.

BOSTON – In Connecticut, a tree branch contacted a live high-voltage power line as a worker in an aerial lift cut it, electrocuting him. In Massachusetts, a falling tree branch struck and killed a worker cutting down oak trees, while a falling tree limb struck an elevated bucket lift, ejecting the worker whose fall was fatal. In nearby Rhode Island, a log conveyor rolled over a worker performing repairs, crushing and killing him.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration, IRS and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the supplemental award of $4 million, with $1.3 million released initially, to the Cherokee Nation to support continued disaster-relief employment and workforce development in response to the pandemic’s impacts on its people.

HOUSTON – Con las ventas de viviendas en el área de Houston batiendo récords, los instaladores de aislantes están trabajando duro para satisfacer la demanda y hacer frente al trabajo arduo y agotador y las molestias causadas por el contacto con los materiales aislantes. Para 46 trabajadores de JVA Insulation Inc., el trabajo se sintió un poco más duro porque su empleador no les pagó todos sus salarios ganados legalmente.

HOUSTON – With Houston-area home sales setting records, insulation installers are working hard to meet demand and endure hard, strenuous labor and discomfort caused by contact with insulation materials. For 46 workers at JVA Insulation Inc., the work felt a bit harder because their employer failed to pay them all their legally earned wages.

A U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation determined that JVA Insulation violated the Fair Labor Standards Act when the company:

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the availability of funds to award up to four new contracts to Industry Intermediaries to launch, promote   and expand Registered Apprenticeship models in critical industries impacted by the coronavirus pandemic and industries that have not traditionally used apprenticeship to meet employer and sector needs.

PHILADELPHIA - In a ceremony today, U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty J. Walsh announced $3.3 million in grant funding to help recruit, train and retain more women in quality pre-apprenticeship and registered apprenticeship programs as well as nontraditional occupations. The event, hosted by Per Scholas Inc., included remarks from the Secretary, Women’s Bureau Director Wendy Chun-Hoon and two graduates of Per Scholas’ technical skills training program.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor announced today the availability of $7 million in grant funding to combat child and forced labor abuses in Mexico’s chile pepper and tomato industries.

BOSTON – The operator of two Framingham area pizza restaurants must pay $307,704.86 – $153,852 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages – to 14 employees after the U.S. Department of Labor obtained summary judgment in federal court.

MANCHESTER, NH – The U.S. Department of Labor recovered $13,125 in back wages for four employees at a New Hampshire ice skating rink and a total of three employers paid $42,921 in civil money penalties after investigations found they violated federal child labor and overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

DOTHAN, AL – A shoe store in Dothan required 16- and 17-year-old employees to drive at night as part of their job responsibilities and place trash in an active compactor, in violation of federal child labor restrictions. These violations led to $37,280 in civil money penalties.

CINCINNATI – A Cincinnati stone manufacturer was cited again for exposing workers to amputation hazards when it failed to ensure machine safety procedures were followed and machine guards were in place, as required by law.

In the week ending September 4, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 310,000, a decrease of 35,000 from the previous week's revised level. This is the lowest level for initial claims since March 14, 2020 when it was 256,000. The previous week's level was revised up by 5,000 from 340,000 to 345,000. The 4-week moving average was 339,500, a decrease of 16,750 from the previous week's revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since March 14, 2020 when it was 225,500. The previous week's average was revised up by 1,250 from 355,000 to 356,250.

HILLSIDE, IL – After a Hillside business owner failed to forward $10,184 in employee retirement contributions to his company’s retirement plan as required, a federal court barred him from serving as a fiduciary in the future for violating the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration today announced the award of more than $6.7 million in grants to 37 nonprofit organizations nationwide to fund education and training programs to help workers and employers recognize infectious diseases, including coronavirus health hazards, and identify preventive measures for a safe workplace.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced a proposed rule to require mine operators employing six or more miners to develop a written safety program for mobile and powered haulage equipment (excluding belt conveyors) at surface mines and surface areas of underground mines.

AUBURN, AL – Following an investigation and federal court order, the U.S. Department of Labor recovered $26,496 in back wages and liquidated damages from a personal injury law firm in Auburn, Alabama, that failed to pay overtime to 42 workers.