RICHLAND, WA – The U.S. Department of Labor has reached an early resolution conciliation agreement with an environmental cleanup provider alleged to have discriminated against 151 Hispanic applicants for contract employment at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site near Richland.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced its Veterans’ Employment and Training Service has signed a memorandum of understanding with five new partners that have agreed to support VETS’ Employment Navigator and Partnership Pilot. With the additions, there are now 38 ENPP partners.  

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of a $5 million cooperative agreement to the Solidarity Center to elevate women’s participation in the workplace, particularly those among underserved groups or populations in the West African nations of Liberia and Nigeria.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration, the IRS and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. today released informational copies of the 2022 Form 5500, Form 5500-SF, IRS Form 5500-EZ and their related instructions.

Employer name:        Publix Super Markets Inc.

Investigation site:      3300 Publix Corp. Parkway, Lakeland, FL 33811

WASHINGTON – Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh today announced that Argentina, Canada, Germany, South Africa and Spain have joined the Multilateral Partnership for Organizing, Worker Empowerment and Rights initiative and that the effort has established a new action plan and that the U.S. has exceeded its 2021 pledge of support. The M-POWER initiative remains the largest U.S. government commitment to advance worker empowerment and support trade union rights in the global economy.

In the week ending December 3, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 230,000, an increase of 4,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 225,000 to 226,000. The 4-week moving average was 230,000, an increase of 1,000 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 250 from 228,750 to 229,000.

Employer name:                    Oak Texas Bar & Grill LLC

                                                        Oak Texas Bar LLC

Investigation site:                 7001 N. 10th St., Suite C, McAllen, Texas 78504

                                                         113 S 17th St., McAllen, TX 78501

Participants:      U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration

                                   Consulate General of Mexico

Employer:                                          Justar Fashion Inc.

Investigation sites:                            2660 Chico Ave.

South El Monte, CA 91733

Employer:                           CHU Contracting Inc.                                                                                                                                                                                                                              14020 Thunderbolt Place, Suite 300                                                                                                                                                                                                Chantilly, Virginia 20151

DENVER – A federal whistleblower investigation has found a Denver-based information technology services provider retaliated against an employee who raised concerns about the company’s failure to pay trust fund taxes to the IRS.

OKLAHOMA CITY – Federal workplace safety investigators have determined that an Arkansas construction contractor failed to test oxygen levels in the confined space before two workers entered a sewer 20 feet below ground at an Edmond work site and died because of a lack of oxygen.

SEATTLE – While 77 care workers employed by Seattle-area adult family home providers worked long hours to ensure the well-being and daily needs of older adults and people with disabilities, a federal investigation has found their employers were shortchanging them $530,418 in wages.

LOS ANGELES – El Departamento de Trabajo de EE.UU. recuperó $370,194 en salarios atrasados ​​y compensación por daños de los dueños de dos restaurantes en Los Ángeles y Pasadena que ilegalmente negaron el pago de horas extra a 54 trabajadores y trataron de ocultarlo.

LINCOLN, NE – A federal court in Nebraska today entered a consent order and judgment in which Packers Sanitation Services Inc. LTD – one of the nation’s largest providers of food safety sanitation services – agreed to immediately comply with child labor laws at all facilities nationwide and to take significant steps to ensure future compliance, including employing an outside compliance specialist.

LOS ANGELES – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $370,194 in back wages and liquidated damages from the owners of two restaurants in Los Angeles and Pasadena who illegally denied overtime wages to 54 workers, and attempted to hide their misdeeds.

ST. PETERSBURG, FL – A U.S. Department of Labor investigation has found a St. Petersburg restaurant ran afoul of federal law, leading to the recovery of $28,162 in back wages for 36 employees, and changes to the employers’ pay practices. The employer illegally paid kitchen staff, dishwashers, and servers as independent contractors.

PHOENIX – El Departamento de Trabajo de EE. UU. está buscando a empleados actuales y anteriores de un contratista de construcción de Tempe, Arizona, a quienes se les debe entregar parte de los más de $2.6 millones en salarios por horas extra y compensación por daños recuperados después de que un tribunal federal aprobó un dictamen por consentimiento luego de un largo litigio e investigación por parte del departamento.

PHOENIX – The U.S. Department of Labor is seeking current and former employees of a Tempe construction contractor who may be owed a share of more than $2.6 million in overtime wages and damages recovered after a federal court approved a consent judgment in response to litigation and a long-standing investigation by the department.