SAN JOSE, CA – The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that its Wage and Hour Division District Office in San Jose and the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office in Santa Rosa signed a collaborative partnership to enhance joint outreach efforts and enforcement of labor laws to protect workers’ rights and fight wage theft.

NEW YORK – In March 2020, as COVID-19 became a global pandemic, an employee of a Staten Island community health center asked permission to allow a regularly scheduled meeting to be held by teleconference – and then changed the format of the meeting to teleconference – rather than meeting in-person in a windowless conference room.

WASHINGTON – Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su joined members and leaders of Arriba Las Vegas Workers Center on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024, for a roundtable discussion on protections for immigrant workers and their enforcement.

HARTFORD, CT – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor, a federal court entered a consent judgment requiring a government contractor based in New Bern, North Carolina, to pay a total of $13,085 in back pay and punitive damages to an employee for violating the anti-retaliation provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. 

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Empleador:                            All Florida Weatherproofing & Construction Inc.

                                                4231 112th Terrace North

                                                Clearwater, FL 33762                           

Read this news release En Español.

Employer:                              All Florida Weatherproofing & Construction Inc.

                                                4231 112th Terrace North

                                                Clearwater, FL 33762

PHILADELPHIA – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment in federal court that requires a Philadelphia home healthcare agency and its owner to pay approximately $1.6 million in back wages and liquidated damages to 288 workers deliberately denied overtime pay.

NEW YORK – The U.S. Department of Labor has launched a multi-year program to reduce worker fatalities and injuries in the tree and landscape services industries in New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. 

In the week ending January 6, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 202,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 202,000 to 203,000. The 4-week moving average was 207,750, a decrease of 250 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 250 from 207,750 to 208,000.

BRADENTON, FL – A 36-year-old mower operator drowned after the mower rolled over in a pond, pinning the worker underwater. Federal workplace safety inspectors determined the employer could have avoided the incident by following required safety measures outlined in the equipment operator’s manual.

Date of Action:          January 8, 2024

Type of Action:         Complaint

Company:                  iProcess Online Inc. and Chief Operating Officer and Human Resources Director Michelle Leach-Bard 

Employer:   Kids Paradise Child Development Center LLC, operating as Kids Paradise CDC

                      4716 US Highway 17 Bypass South, Myrtle Beach, SC 29588 and

                       2103 Cromley Circle, Myrtle Beach, SC 29577                                          

HAMMOND, IN – The owner and manager of a Hobart restaurant must pay $78,799 in back wages and liquidated damages to 13 workers after federal investigators found they coerced the employees to return monies they agreed to pay following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division in 2021.

Date of Action:          Jan. 8, 2024

Type of Action:         Complaint

Defendants:               Jones Dykstra and Associates Inc.

                                    Co-owner and senior partner Keith Jones

                                    Co-owner and senior partner Brian E. Dykstra

                                    Jones Dykstra and Associates Inc. 401(k) profit sharing plan

BOSTON – The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a complaint in federal court in Boston, alleging that 25 Massachusetts skilled nursing facilities in 21 communities intentionally withheld overtime wages to at least 624 employees and failed to maintain accurate employment records.

TIGERTON, WI – A U.S. Department of Labor follow-up inspection of Tigerton Lumber Co. found that the Wisconsin sawmill continued to expose many of its employees to amputation and other dangers. The inspection was part of a federal program for severe violators. The company was deemed a severe violator in 2019 after an investigation into how an employee suffered fatal injuries in 2018. 

MANCHESTER, NH – El Departamento de Trabajo de EE. UU.

POWELL, TN – The nation’s largest Bojangles franchise owner will make enterprise-wide changes to improve working conditions for minor-aged employees and compliance with federal labor regulations at their 118 locations in Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina and Tennessee after entering an enhanced compliance agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor. 

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of up to $12.4 million in grant funding for three organizations to reduce child and forced labor in Mexico and support migrant workers. 

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a final rule to help employers and workers better understand when a worker qualifies as an employee and when they may be considered an independent contractor under the Fair Labor Standards Act.