SEATTLE – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has certified the Walsh Group, a commercial construction management company in Seattle, as a “Star” employer in the agency’s Voluntary Protection Programs.

Now in its 40th year, the VPP is the highest level of OSHA recognition for workplace safety and health excellence.

WASHINGTON – Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh today joined Gov. Tom Wolf, leaders of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and Yellow Corp., and union members to announce the expansion of the trucking company’s 17th Commercial Driver’s License Driving Academy in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

SALT LAKE CITY – The U.S. Department of Labor is stepping up its efforts to identify child labor violations in the Salt Lake City area as school closings for the summer nears, and its Wage and Hour Division offers the findings of three recent investigations to remind employers about the regulations and limitations related to the employment youth.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration is proposing amendments to its occupational injury and illness recordkeeping regulation, 29 CFR 1904.41. The current regulation requires certain employers to electronically submit injury and illness information – that they are required to keep – to OSHA.

Employer name:       Groundworks Colorado LLC

                                          2575 U.S. 6 & 50, Unit A

                                          Grand Junction, CO 81501                    

WASHINGTON – The Biden-Harris administration today released the President’s Fiscal Year 2023 Budget and Fiscal Year 2022-2026 Strategic Plan. The President’s Budget details his vision to expand on the historic progress our country has made over the last year and deliver the agenda he laid out in his State of the Union address: to build a better America, reduce the deficit, reduce costs for families and grow the economy from the bottom up and middle out. 

WASHINGTON – A pesar de su papel crítico en la economía, los trabajadores agrícolas con demasiada frecuencia enfrentan salarios no pagados, transporte inseguro hacia y desde los lugares de trabajo y condiciones de vivienda deficientes.

WASHINGTON – Despite their critical role in the economy, farmworkers too often face unpaid wages, unsafe transportation to and from worksites, and substandard housing conditions.

MEMPHIS, TN – The operator of a Memphis Shell gas station and convenience store paid workers cash bonuses in place of overtime pay and persuaded them to sign altered time records to avoid paying full overtime wages due, a U.S. Department of Labor investigation has found.   

WASHINGTON – In a first-of-its-kind action, the U.S. Department of Labor has issued guidance to all 50 states and the nation’s territories encouraging them to designate more than 2,300 locally operated American Job Centers as voter registration agencies under the National Voter Registration Act.

WHO:             U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division

                        Doña Anna Community College

WHAT:           2022 Agricultural Employer Seminar

WHEN:          March 31, 2022

                       8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

DALLAS – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration is urging response crews and residents in areas affected by recent storms that spawned tornadoes in north Texas and New Orleans to recognize and protect themselves from hazards created by flooding, power loss, structural damage, fallen trees and storm debris.

Employers:                Westlake Chemical Lake Charles South, Westlake, Louisiana

                                    Wastewater Specialties LLC, Sulphur, Louisiana

PENSACOLA, FL – Despite the findings of a January 2021 federal workplace safety investigation, a Pensacola custom cabinet manufacturer continued to expose workers to fire risks, inspectors with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration found in a follow-up visit.

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.