CHARLESTON, WV – The U.S. Department of Labor is asking the West Virginia highway construction industry to participate in a survey to help the department’s Wage and Hour Division establish prevailing wage rates, as required by federal law.

In the week ending October 15, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 214,000, a decrease of 12,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised down by 2,000 from 228,000 to 226,000. The 4-week moving average was 212,250, an increase of 1,250 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised down by 500 from 211,500 to 211,000.

HONOLULU – The U.S. Department of Labor has found a Kauai restaurant allowed eight minors, some as young as 15-years-old, to cook and bake in violation of federal laws that prohibit employers from assigning hazardous occupations to underage employees, and denied overtime wages to 18 employees.

Who: U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division

What: The division will begin an outreach assistance and enforcement initiative to reach employers in North Carolina’s sweet potato industry. Historically, federal investigators have found a high percentage of violations among industry employers, and the initiative seeks to improve compliance.                                      

Descripción del acuerdo: La División de Horas y Salarios del departamento ha renovado su acuerdo con el Consulado de México para proporcionar a los trabajadores hispanohablantes en Luisiana y Mississippi información y guía sobre sus derechos como trabajadores, y acceso a la capacitación.

SONOMA, CA – El Departamento de Trabajo de los EE.UU.

PATERSON, NJ – The U.S. Department of Labor has issued citations to three New Jersey contractors who willfully exposed employees to potentially lethal dangers by allowing them to work near energized power lines at a Paterson worksite.

Participants:      U.S. Department of Labor

                                   Consulate of Mexico in New Orleans

SONOMA, CA – The U.S. Department of Labor recovered $54,935 in lost wages for 14 farmworkers after an investigation found that a California grape grower gave workers employed under the H-2A agricultural worker program more hours and better wages than those provided to U.S. workers, in violation of federal law.

SACRAMENTO – Una investigación del Departamento de Trabajo de EE.UU. recuperó $216,674 en horas extra no pagadas y compensación por daños para 31 empleados después de que un fabricante de estibas (o paletas de carga) en el área de Sacramento les negara el correspondiente pago por sobretiempo.

ATLANTA – In the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has initiated efforts to provide on-site technical assistance and outreach in the areas of Florida hardest hit by the storm to protect workers involved in the recovery and response and to prevent any further injury or loss of life.

SACRAMENTO – A U.S. Department of Labor investigation has recovered $216,674 in unpaid overtime wages and liquidated damages from a Sacramento-area pallet manufacturer after the employer denied required overtime pay to 31 employees.

MANCHESTER, NH – A federal court has ordered a North Conway restaurant to pay a total of $148,128 – $74,064 in tips and back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages – after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation found the employers kept workers’ tips illegally and failed to pay them overtime wages when required by law.

ATLANTA – Dollar General Corp. and Dolgencorp LLC – operator of more than 18,000 Dollar General discount stores in 47 states – has again ignored federal workplace safety standards, this time identified during inspections at four locations in Alabama, Florida and Georgia. The company faces $1,682,302 in proposed penalties after these inspections, a portion of the more than $9.6 million in total initial penalties the company has received since 2017.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced an initial award of $15 million to support disaster-relief employment, and employment and training services in Florida as the state continues its recovery from Hurricane Ian.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that its Veterans’ Employment and Training Service has awarded a $1.2 million technical service contract aimed to improve the customer experience for veterans, transitioning service members and military spouses using the agency’s resources.

RIVER GROVE, IL – While federal workplace safety inspectors are used to some employers’ disregard for workplace safety, the response of a Chicago-area carpentry company’s site supervisor to a U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspector’s notification at the site about workers without fall protection exposed to the construction industry’s most lethal hazard – falls from elevation – was especially blatant.

WASHINGTON – Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh and the department’s Assistant Secretary for Disability Employment Policy Taryn Williams today welcomed a group of corporate employers and disability advocacy leaders recognized for their innovative approaches to fostering mental health-friendly workplaces.

MARGATE, FL – Working at the bottom of a Margate canal on April 4, 2022, a young diver was removing sand with an industrial vacuum to restore an embankment project when sediment above collapsed onto him, leaving the 22-year-old worker trapped until he drowned.

CHICAGO ­– Employing interactive online reporting tools, virtual job planning sites and new employee orientations with a commitment to safety are some of the hallmarks of the Power Construction Co.’s innovative safety and health program.