WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division is asking Maine’s building construction industry to participate in a survey to help the agency establish prevailing wage rates, as required under the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts (DBRA).

MANCHESTER, NH – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division has recovered $123,750 in back wages and liquidated damages for 40 workers of a Hampton Beach clothing retailer after finding the employer paid some employees cash off the books and paid straight time for overtime for hours over 40 in a workweek.

GREENCASTLE, PA – For the second time in a year, the U.S. Department of Labor has cited a Dollar General store in Greencastle for endangering its workers’ safety and continuing the nationwide discount chain’s long history of federal workplace safety violations and penalties.

SULPHUR SPRINGS, TX – A federal workplace safety investigation found that a temporary worker suffered serious injuries on Jan. 3, 2022, after being struck by a large mold at a Texas concrete polymer manufacturing company. It was determined that the employer failed to install machine guards that would have prevented the incident.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh issued the following statement regarding the termination of the Trade Adjustment Assistance for Workers Program:

MORTON, MS – Work in a poultry processing plant is hard: the hours are often long and the jobs expose workers to serious safety and health hazards. In return for subjecting themselves to high noise levels, dangerous equipment, slippery floors, hazardous chemicals and biological dangers, and the common risks of musculoskeletal disorders, a Mississippi worker’s mean annual wage is less than $30,000.

INDIANAPOLIS – Overtime wages owed to 215 security professionals who patrol Indianapolis International Airport’s grounds, guard local businesses, and provide round-the-clock traffic control in the area were paid following an investigation and litigation by the U.S. Department of Labor.

HONOLULU – A federal investigation has recovered $117,710 in back wages and liquidated damages for 70 workers of a restaurant group in Hawaii that required servers to share their tips with managers, after the employer reduced managers’ salaries by at least 25 percent. The restaurant operators attempted to make up for the reduction in managers’ salaries by drawing from tipped workers’ wages, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

BIRMINGHAM, AL – The U.S. Department of Labor recovered $62,568 in back wages and liquidated damages for 22 current and former cashiers of two Alabama gas stations whose operator denied them their full wages by paying them overtime at rates lower than the law requires.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor marked the 50th anniversary of the enactment of Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972 with a roundtable discussion at its “Celebrating Title IX” webinar hosted by the department’s Women’s Bureau.

MIDDLEBURG, FL – A U.S. Department of Labor investigation into a roof collapse that caused a 43-year-old laborer’s fatal injuries at a Middleburg work site on Dec. 13, 2021, found the employer failed to follow required safety standards that might have prevented the incident.

CENTER, TX –  Una investigación federal recuperó $247,334 en salarios atrasados y daños y perjuicios para 15 trabajadores de una empresa de construcción de oleoductos de Texas a quienes se les negó su salario completo, incluidas las horas extras. Los trabajadores estaban empleados en las obras de la empresa en Luisiana, Oklahoma y Texas.

Employer:                                          Smoky Hearth LLC

Investigation site:                             16607 Champion Way #100

                                                                     Sandy, OR 97055

CENTER, TX – A federal investigation recovered $247,334 in back wages and liquidated damages for 15 workers of a Texas oil pipeline construction company whose pay practices denied them their full wages, including overtime. The workers were employed at the company’s Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas job sites.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced its Veterans’ Employment and Training Service has signed a memorandum of understanding with eight organizations to serve as partners in support of VETS’ Employment Navigator and Partnership Pilot.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division and Office of the Chief Information Officer today launched an app for use on Android devices that helps track work hours, break time, overtime hours and calculates wages due. The department previously launched the iOS version of the division’s Timesheet App.

CONNEAUT, OH – An Ohio aluminum vehicle parts manufacturer cited for safety and health violations after a worker in Ravenna suffered fatal injuries in March 2021, continues to put workers at risk.

In the week ending June 25, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 231,000, a decrease of 2,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 4,000 from 229,000 to 233,000. The 4-week moving average was 231,750, an increase of 7,250 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 1,000 from 223,500 to 224,500.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission hosted an online discussion on June 28, 2022, on skills-based hiring to promote equal employment opportunity in the workplace.

HOUSTON – On Jan. 26, 2022, a 21-year-old roofing worker suffered fatal injuries after falling about 30 feet through a skylight atop a Houston building, a fatality that a Burleson contractor could have been prevented if they had heeded a U.S. Department of Labor citation issued one month earlier.