April 25, 2024

US Department of Labor recovers $245K for 10 cooks whose employer deliberately denied overtime, minimum wages; assesses $8K in penalties

SACRAMENTO, CA The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $245,722 in back wages and damages for 10 cooks after investigators found the owner and operator of four northern California restaurants denied them required overtime and minimum wages knowingly. 

April 25, 2024

Statement by Acting Secretary Su on announcement of construction of new semiconductor fabrication sites in New York, Idaho

WASHINGTON – Acting Secretary Julie Su today issued the following statement on the announcement that the Biden-Harris administration’s CHIPS and Science Act and its Investing in America agenda have resulted in Micron Technology Inc. announcing the construction of three new fabrication facilities, which are expected to create more than 70,000 jobs:

April 25, 2024

Department of Labor adds 16 new large federally funded projects to program promoting equal access to good jobs created by Investing in America agenda

WASHINGTON – The Department of Labor today announced the addition of 16 large infrastructure projects, funded through the Biden-Harris administration’s $2 trillion Investing in America agenda, to the Mega Construction Project Program.

April 25, 2024

Department of Labor will offer online wage seminars in May, August on prevailing wage requirements for federally funded projects

WASHINGTON – The Department of Labor today announced its Wage and Hour Division will offer contracting agencies, contractors, unions, workers and other stakeholders opportunities in May or August to attend an online seminar on meeting federal requirements for paying prevailing wages on federally funded construction and service contracts.

April 25, 2024

Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report

In the week ending April 20, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 207,000, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 212,000. The 4-week moving average was 213,250, a decrease of 1,250 from the previous week's unrevised average of 214,500.

April 24, 2024

El Departamento de Trabajo recupera casi $85K para 32 conductores de transporte erróneamente clasificados como contratistas independientes

Nombre del empleador:                   Paredes Inc., que opera como Superior Service

Sitios de investigación:                     75 Garrett Trail 

April 24, 2024

Department of Labor recovers nearly $85K in owed wages for 32 mobile home transportation drivers, laborers misclassified as independent contractors

Employer name:                    Paredes Inc., operating as Superior Service

Investigation sites:               75 Garrett Trail 

                                                         Maxwell, TX 78656

April 24, 2024

Department of Labor highlights more than 1,000 planned clean energy projects with potential for good-paying jobs on new interactive map

WASHINGTON – The Department of Labor today announced the launch of an interactive map to help workers, unions and the public learn more about the tens of thousands of jobs being created nationwide by more than 1,000 planned clean energy projects, in line with the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to creating good jobs while tackling the climate crisis.

April 24, 2024

Vermont restaurant retaliated against server, underpaid workers, violated child labor provisions, US Department of Labor investigation finds

MANCHESTER, NH – A Vermont restaurant server will receive $50,000 in punitive damages and $829 in back pay, after a U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation found the employer retaliated against them by terminating their employment for refusing to share tips with a manager.

April 23, 2024

Department of Labor again cites Hanover Foods for exposing workers to dozens of safety, health hazards; proposes $761K in penalties

CENTRE HALL, PA – The U.S. Department of Labor has again found Hanover Foods Corp., a large food manufacturer with a history of hazardous workplace safety practices, in violation of dozens of safety and health hazards at its Centre Hall facility.

The producer of glass-pack, canned, frozen, refrigerated, freeze-dried and snack food products under the Hanover brand as well as other private labels also operates eight other manufacturing plants, including five in Pennsylvania and one each in Delaware, New Jersey and Guatemala.

April 23, 2024

US Department of Labor cites 2 Florida construction contractors after finding lack of crane safety protocols led to 37-year-old employee’s fatal injuries

ORLANDO, FL – Federal workplace safety investigators have determined that a Tampa-area construction contractor could have prevented a 37-year-old aerial lift operator from suffering fatal injuries after being struck by a boom as a crane tipped over during work on an Orlando highway ramp in October 2023.

April 23, 2024

Tamuning contractor faces $1M in penalties after federal inspectors find employees again exposed to potentially fatal trench hazards

TIYAN, GUAM ‒ A contractor with a history of failing to protect employees working in trenches from potentially deadly harm faces penalties of more than $1 million after federal investigators found employees working in trenches deeper than 5 feet without required safety equipment. 

April 23, 2024

Biden-Harris administration announces rule to protect retirement savers’ interests by updating investment advice fiduciary definition

WASHINGTON – The Biden-Harris administration announced today that the U.S. Department of Labor has finalized its Retirement Security Rule to protect the millions of workers who are saving for retirement diligently and rely on advice from trusted professionals on how to invest their savings.

April 23, 2024

Biden-Harris administration finalizes rule to increase compensation thresholds for overtime eligibility, expanding protections for millions of workers

WASHINGTON – The Biden-Harris administration today announced a final rule that expands overtime protections for millions of the nation’s lower-paid salaried workers by increasing the salary thresholds required to exempt a salaried bona fide executive, administrative or professional employee from federal overtime pay requirements. 

April 23, 2024

Department of Labor obtains judgment ordering contractor to pay nearly $1.2M in wages, damages, penalties for illegal employment practices

WASHINGTON  The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment in federal court that orders a Virginia concrete contractor to pay nearly $1.2 million in back wages, damages and penalties after its investigation found the employer misclassified 29 employees as independent contractors and failed to pay proper overtime to its employees.

April 22, 2024

Federal court orders 4 Arizona contractors to pay over $3.2M in owed wages, damages to 890 workers after Department of Labor investigations

PHOENIX – The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that efforts to protect residential construction workers from unlawful pay practices have recovered a total of $3.2 million in wages and damages from four Arizona contractors for 890 workers.

April 19, 2024

Statement from Acting Secretary Julie Su on the Volkswagen plant in Tennessee

WASHINGTON – In a statement today, Acting Secretary Julie Su joined President Joe Biden in congratulating Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga, Tennessee who voted to unionize on April 19, 2024:

April 19, 2024

Mine manager pleads guilty to second-degree manslaughter for recklessly operating crane that killed Grafton mine mechanic

TROY, NY – An upstate New York court accepted a mine manager’s guilty plea today to manslaughter in the second degree, a Class C felony. Anthony Valente, a mine manager at a Grafton limestone quarry, admitted to causing Darren Miller’s death in October 2022 by recklessly disregarding and overriding safety features of a crane Valente was operating, which resulted in a piece of the crane striking Miller, a 35-year-old mechanic, and causing his death. The manager agreed to serve a six-month jail sentence and five years of probation.

April 18, 2024

Departamento de Trabajo recupera $447,000 para 60 trabajadores de tiendas de alimentos a los que empleador en condado de Kern no pagó horas extras

SACRAMENTO, CA. El Departamento de Trabajo de EE.UU. recuperó $447,952 en salarios y compensación por daños a operador de tres tiendas de alimentación del condado de Kern para 60 trabajadores después de que una investigación federal descubrió que el empleador ilegalmente negó pagar como sobretiempo las horas trabajadas por encima de 40 en una semana laboral.

April 18, 2024

US Department of Labor recovers $447K in back wages, damages for 60 grocery workers denied overtime by Kern County employer

SACRAMENTO, CA The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $447,952 in back wages and damages from the operator of three Kern County grocery stores for 60 workers after a federal investigation found the employer illegally withheld overtime wages for hours over 40 in a workweek.