PHILADELPHIA – The U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration today announced that the owner of Philadelphia Pension Planning Corp., formerly located in Montgomery County, Pa., was sentenced to 15 months in prison and three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $715,228.79 to the Bustleton Landscaping Co. Inc. Profit Sharing Plan for making a false statement in the Form 5500 annual report.

KENNESAW, Ga. – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a court order requiring the Hoyla Insurance Group Inc. and owner Michael Hoyla to restore $77,470.48 to the former company's 401(k) retirement plan.

Following an investigation by the Labor Department's Employee Benefits Security Administration, the department filed a lawsuit alleging that the defendants violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act by comingling employee contributions with company funds.

ARLINGTON, Va. – Joseph A. Main, assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration, today released the following statement in response to two massive explosions that rocked the Pike River coal mine in New Zealand. Twenty-nine miners are believed to have been killed.

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA In the week ending Nov. 20, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 407,000, a decrease of 34,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 441,000. The 4-week moving average was 436,000, a decrease of 7,500 from the previous week's revised average of 443,500.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a $517,197 grant to provide an estimated 210 jobless workers in Utah with partial premium payments for health insurance coverage.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor has announced a $4 million National Emergency Grant award to assist cleanup and recovery efforts in the wake of Tropical Storm Otto that struck Puerto Rico in October.

These funds will be awarded to the Puerto Rico Department of Labor and Human Resources. Funds will be used to create temporary jobs to assist in the recovery from the severe storm's devastation, which included flooding and landslides.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor has announced a $2,579,730 National Emergency Grant increment to Massachusetts to continue providing services to workers affected by layoffs in the financial industry. More than 700 workers will be served under this funding.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a $2,073,235 grant to assist about 330 workers who reside in Massachusetts affected by layoffs and closings at 12 companies, 11 in Massachusetts and one in Connecticut.

ORLANDO, Fla. – The U.S. Department of Labor is suing the defunct Bordes Group Inc. and the estate of its late owner, Roy Bordes, to restore assets to the company’s 401(k) plan for the benefit of the plan’s participants and beneficiaries.

LAKELAND, Fla. – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued defunct GBK & Associates Inc. and its owners, Deborah Burgess-Wyngate and George Kamanis, to restore losses suffered by the company’s 401(k) plan participants and beneficiaries. The lawsuit followed an investigation by the department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration into alleged violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

TAMPA, Fla. – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained consent judgments requiring Medipharm-Rx Inc. and two 401(k) plan administrators to restore more than $10,000 in losses incurred by the company’s 401(k) plan.

ARLINGTON, Va. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced that federal inspectors issued 380 citations and orders during special impact inspections conducted at 13 coal and six metal/nonmetal mine operations last month.

ARLINGTON, Va. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration announced today that 13 mines from around the country received letters putting them on notice that each has a potential pattern of violations of mandatory health or safety standards under Section 104(e) of the federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977. These are the first mining operations to receive such notification since MSHA implemented major reforms to its POV process, including tougher provisions for mines with chronic and persistent health and safety violations.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today hosted the 2010 Job Corps Oratory Competition in Washington, D.C. Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis delivered opening remarks before four finalists from California, Illinois, Michigan and Kentucky took the stage to present their speeches about how Job Corps has impacted their lives.

WASHINGTON – Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis today issued the following statement regarding the increased enforcement and outreach efforts of the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division:

"Protecting worker rights is my top priority at the Department of Labor. It's not a slogan. It's a commitment that I have made to ensure workers receive all the protections that the law promises, and that no employer gains an unfair advantage by cheating workers out of their rightfully earned wages.

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA In the week ending Nov. 13, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 439,000, an increase of 2,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 437,000. The 4-week moving average was 443,000, a decrease of 4,000 from the previous week's revised average of 447,000.

ARLINGTON, Va. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration today launched the second phase of an outreach and enforcement program designed to strengthen efforts to prevent mining fatalities. "Rules to Live By II: Preventing Catastrophic Accidents" was developed from data gathered by reviewing accidents that resulted in five or more fatalities, as well as from incidents caused by fires or explosions that had the potential to result in more fatalities.

WASHINGTON – Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis today issued the following statement on the extension of the expanded Trade Adjustment Assistance program:

ATLANTA —Following an investigation, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division is assessing J&R Baker Farms LLC $1,311,644 in back wages owed to 244 workers and $136,500 in fines for violating provisions of the H-2A temporary agricultural worker program.

The department’s Office of the Solicitor has filed a request with the department’s Office of Administrative Law Judges to hold a hearing to enforce the department’s findings against the Ellenton, Ga., agricultural employer.

WASHINGTON – Pursuant to a requirement imposed by the Pension Protection Act of 2006, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration today announced a proposed rule to implement the annual funding notice requirement under section 101(f) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.