WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced three new funding opportunities that will make up to $377 million in grants available to states to strengthen the integrity and resilience of their unemployment insurance programs.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration today launched a national emphasis program to prevent workplace hazards in warehouses, processing facilities distribution centers, and high-risk retail establishments.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today published a notice of proposed rulemaking by its Mine Safety and Health Administration to amend existing federal standards to better protect the nation’s miners from health hazards related to occupational exposure of respirable crystalline silica, or silica dust.

BRASHEAR, MO ‒ Not yet a month on the job, a 21-year-old working at a sawmill operation site in Brashear was learning how to operate a Hurdle saw on Jan. 11, 2023, when he suffered fatal injuries after getting caught and pulled into the vertical edger blades as they spun.

WASHINGTON – To help identify and address barriers workers face regarding access to state unemployment insurance benefits, the U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of $9.5 million in equity grants to Arkansas, Louisiana and Vermont.  

TAMPA, FL – Federal workplace safety inspections at two Tampa-area Dollar General stores found the company again exposing employees to fire hazards and other unsafe conditions, continuing the long history of disregard for worker safety by one of the nation’s largest discount retailers.

In the week ending July 8, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 237,000, a decrease of 12,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 248,000 to 249,000. The 4-week moving average was 246,750, a decrease of 6,750 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 250 from 253,250 to 253,500.

Employer:           Sunshine Agency Inc.

                             2801-3Z Ward Blvd.

                             Wilson, NC 27869

PHILADELPHIA – A federal court in Pennsylvania has ordered a Philadelphia home healthcare staffing agency to pay $197,236 in back wages and liquidated damages to 31 employees after federal investigators found that their employer failed to pay proper overtime.

WASHINGTON – Acting Secretary Julie Su welcomed mayors and representatives from 16 cities, along with other leaders of government, business and labor; and key stakeholders to open the first of a two-day meeting of the “Good Jobs, Great Cities Academy

VERONA, MO – Less than two years after an investigation found dozens of serious safety and health violations at a Verona chemical plant, workplace safety inspectors with the U.S. Department of Labor identified 16 violations, including those that put employees at risk of exposure to toxic substances such as ethylene oxide.

BALTIMORE – A federal court in Maryland has cited a Baltimore logistics, engineering and management support services company and its owner for contempt of court for failing to comply with a May 2022 consent judgment and order requiring them to restore $153,590 in missing contributions and interest to the company’s 401(k) plan.

BURLINGAME, CA – A federal investigation has recovered more than $469,000 in back wages and damages after a Northern California restaurant chain’s pay practices denied 114 workers of their fully earned wages at five Bay-area locations.

MANCHESTER, NH – A federal investigation has recovered $950,000 in back wages and liquidated damages and $50,000 in punitive damages from a West Lebanon home healthcare business — with a history of unlawful pay practices — that denied overtime wages to 36 employees.

PHOENIX – El Departamento de Trabajo de EE.UU. está buscando a trabajadores actuales o anteriores que ahora o alguna vez hayan sido empleados por un distribuidor nacional de piezas de carros y su empresa de entregas a quienes se les debe dar más de $5.6 millones en salarios atrasados y daños que el departamento recuperó para más de 1.300 conductores.

WASHINGTON – To support efforts to address Massachusetts’ continuing opioid crisis, the U.S. Department of Labor today announced an incremental award of $800,000 to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development to support employment and training services and disaster-relief jobs for workers in Bristol and Plymouth counties.

PHOENIX – The U.S. Department of Labor is seeking people now or once employed by a national auto parts distributor and its delivery company who may be owed their share of more than $5.6 million in back wages and damages recovered on behalf of more than 1,300 drivers.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced an incremental award of $800,000 to Coastal Counties Workforce Inc. to provide continued employment and training services to dislocated workers affected by continuing layoffs in six counties.

MARLTON, NJ – A series of inspections by the U.S. Department of Labor has found a Newark-based construction contractor defying federal safety regulations by exposing employees to more than 20 violations, including potentially deadly falls, at six southern and central New Jersey work sites in early 2023.

Employer:                             Happy China Buffet Inc.

                                               2515 Sunset Blvd.

                                               West Columbia, SC 29169