NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a court order appointing an independent fiduciary to manage the 401(k) plan of defunct Miller Agency Inc. of Shelton, Conn.

ARLINGTON, Va. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced it will hold public meetings in Arlington, Va., Sacramento, Calif., and Pittsburgh, Pa., to gather information about effective, comprehensive safety and health management programs at mines. The agency will use information gathered from these meetings to help develop a proposed rule for safety and health management programs for mines, which will enable miners and mine operators to be more proactive in their approach to health and safety matters.

DELAWARE, Ohio – A federal district court in Columbus, Ohio, has entered a consent order and judgment requiring Carl Stover, the owner and president of Stover Industries Inc. in Delaware, Ohio, to pay $16,729 for employee contributions and lost opportunity costs to the participants and beneficiaries of the company’s 401(k) plan. The judgment is based on an investigation conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration.

WASHINGTON – In conjunction with Drive Safely Work Week, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration today announced an education campaign calling on employers to prevent work-related distracted driving, with a special focus on prohibiting texting while driving.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration today announced the publication of a proposed rule that seeks to improve the H-2B temporary nonagricultural worker program and better protect American workers. The proposed rule, to be published in the Federal Register tomorrow, addresses the calculations used to set wage rates for H-2B workers.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration today announced a solicitation for grant applications for the YouthBuild program. Approximately $130 million is available through two separate appropriations.

WASHINGTON — Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis today issued the following statement on the president's proclamation of October as National Disability Employment Awareness Month 2010. The theme for this year is "Talent Has No Boundaries: Workforce Diversity Includes People with Disabilities."

ARLINGTON, Va. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced the second phase in major reforms to its pattern of violations process, which includes tougher provisions for mines with chronic and persistent violations of significant health and safety regulations.

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA In the week ending Sept. 25, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 453,000, a decrease of 16,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 469,000. The 4-week moving average was 458,000, a decrease of 6,250 from the previous week's revised average of 464,250.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.5 percent for the week ending Sept. 18, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's revised rate of 3.6 percent.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today certified for release $18,421,988 in unemployment insurance modernization incentive funds to the District of Columbia. The district qualified for the funds available under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act by making state unemployment benefits available to part-time workers and by providing additional weeks of benefits to UI beneficiaries enrolled in approved training programs.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of International Labor Affairs has announced a $9.5 million competitive grant solicitation listed at http://www.grants.gov seeking applications from qualified organizations to combat the worst forms of child labor in the cotton and other agriculture sectors in Egypt.

Applicants should focus on five goals for combating child labor:

Benefits.gov provides enhanced search tools to navigate government programs

WASHINGTON — As part of its "Add Us In" initiative, the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy awarded four two-year cooperative agreements totaling more than $2.4 million to consortia led by the University of Missouri-Kansas City in Kansas City, Mo.; Community Partners-Integrated Recovery Network in Los Angeles, Calif.; The Workplace Inc. in Bridgeport, Conn.; and the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Okla.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced an award of $21,276,575 to nine states under the Disability Employment Initiative to improve education, training, and employment opportunities and outcomes of youth and adults who are unemployed and/or receiving Social Security disability benefits. The Disability Employment Initiative is jointly funded and administered by the department's Employment and Training Administration and its Office of Disability Employment Policy.

ARLINGTON, Va. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced it has signed a cooperative agreement with the United Mine Workers of America Career Centers Inc., in which the UMWACC will receive $1,450,000 to develop classroom and simulated rescue training programs for mine rescue teams.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration today announced that it has concluded a special evaluation of state-run occupational safety and health programs under its jurisdiction. Enhanced Federal Annual Monitoring and Evaluation reports provide detailed findings and recommendations on the operations of state-run OSHA programs in 25 states and territories.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy today announced the continuation of funding for a National Technical Assistance, Policy and Research Center for Employers on Employment of People with Disabilities at Cornell University. Continued funding in the amount of $1.6 million was awarded by exercising the first option year of a cooperative agreement between ODEP and Cornell University that provides for the center's operation. The center is also referred to as the National Employer Technical Assistance Center.

LOS ANGELES – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued executives of Journey Electrical Technologies Inc. of Laguna Hills, Calif., for allegedly failing to collect more than $920,000 in employee and employer contributions owed to the company’s 401(k) plan in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor has announced a $5.8 million National Emergency Grant award to assist cleanup and recovery efforts in the wake of severe storms, flooding, and tornadoes that struck Iowa in June.

"Severe storms inflicted widespread damage across the state of Iowa throughout June, and families and businesses need our support," said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. "Today's grant will help these citizens cleanup and repair their affected communities."

ARLINGTON, Va. – The Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration has announced new screening criteria for the pattern of violations enforcement program, which gives the agency additional enforcement tools to use at mines with a history of violating safety standards. This is a critical first step in reforming the current pattern of violations enforcement program.