Rule would expand military family leave provisions, incorporate special eligibility provision for airline flight crew employees

WASHINGTON — Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis today announced that the U.S. Department of Labor is issuing a notice of proposed rulemaking to implement new statutory amendments to the Family and Medical Leave Act that would expand military family leave provisions and incorporate a special eligibility provision for airline flight crew employees.

Mandated full-time unpaid leave violated Family and Medical Leave Act

SAN ANTONIO — Bexar County Hospital District, doing business as University Health System in San Antonio, has agreed to pay a former employee $7,915 in back wages after an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division found that the hospital had placed the worker on full-time unpaid leave, in violation of the Family and Medical Leave Act.

WASHINGTON — Nancy J. Leppink, deputy administrator of the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division, and Ellen Golombek, executive director of the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, signed a memorandum of understanding Dec. 5 regarding the improper classification of employees as independent contractors. Following the signing, Leppink and Golombek hosted a press teleconference during which they discussed how the U.S.

Multiyear effort aims to protect workers, law-abiding employers against industry noncompliance

SILVER SPRING, Md - The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland has approved a global settlement that allows the U.S. Department of Labor to recover $7,968,744 in back wages, fringe benefits and 401(k) plan assets for more than 2,000 security guards formerly employed by USProtect Corp., a defunct Silver Spring company that provided security services for federal buildings across the country.

Wage and Hour Division investigations found labor violations at BP and other gas stations

More than 2,000 security guards nationwide to benefit from bankruptcy settlement

Compliance assistance workshops covering H-2A and MSPA rules to be held in Arcadia, Avon Park and Dover

Interested parties may submit comments through Dec. 1

2,645 workers in Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Texas affected

CARROLLTON, Texas — Hilton Reservations Worldwide LLC, doing business as Hilton Reservations and Customer Care in Carrollton, has agreed to pay $715,507 in minimum and overtime back wages to 2,645 current and former customer service employees following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division that found violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

17-year-old employee killed at meat rendering plant in 2009

Court yet to determine amount of wages and damages owed; more than $1.6 million sought

DAYTON, Ohio — In a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Labor against Cascom Inc. and president Julia J. Gress alleging wage violations, U.S. District Court Judge Thomas M. Rose has ruled that the Fairfield, Ohio, company violated federal labor laws by misclassifying its employees as independent contractors and, consequently, not compensating them for overtime work, as required under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

11 state agency leaders also sign, agree to memorandums of understanding

Conference will provide Davis-Bacon and Service Contract Act compliance assistance

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division will host a free online conference for federal, state and local contracting officials to provide information on federal rules concerning prevailing wages and other labor law requirements. The conference will be webcast live from 10 a.m. — 3 p.m. EDT on both Tuesday, Oct. 4, and Wednesday, Oct. 5.

Aims to improve safety of young workers employed in agriculture and related fields

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor is proposing revisions to child labor regulations that will strengthen the safety requirements for young workers employed in agriculture and related fields. The agricultural hazardous occupations orders under the Fair Labor Standards Act that bar young workers from certain tasks have not been updated since they were promulgated in 1970.

LOS ANGELES — A Los Angeles-based Japanese restaurant group has agreed to pay back wages of $144,721 to 66 employees following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division that disclosed systemic violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act's overtime, minimum wage and record-keeping provisions. The violations were found at seven locations of Bishamon Group Restaurants in Monterey Park, Covina, Arcadia, Costa Mesa and downtown Los Angeles.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Two La Nopalera restaurants in Jacksonville and their owners have been ordered to pay 30 employees $934,425 in back wages and liquidated damages under the terms of consent judgments. The agreements resolve a U.S. Department of Labor lawsuit based on an investigation by its Wage and Hour Division that alleged violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act's minimum wage, overtime pay and record-keeping provisions.

Violations affected workers in Arkansas, Colorado, Louisiana, North Dakota and Texas

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division has obtained an agreement for Maryland's Prince George's County Public Schools system to pay $4,222,146 in back wages due 1,044 workers to resolve violations of the H-1B temporary foreign worker program. Investigators from the department found that PGCPS illegally reduced the wages of the H-1B workers by requiring them to pay fees that the school system was required to pay.

Systemic labor violations found throughout call centers in Florida, Kansas, Michigan, Oklahoma, Oregon and Texas