ATLANTA – An administrative law judge has entered a consent order following a U.S. Department of Labor investigation that determined a wholesale plant nursery in Miami gave foreign visa workers preferential treatment over U.S. workers, and housed workers in unsafe and unhealthy conditions in Greensboro, Georgia.

In the week ending February 11, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 194,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised down by 1,000 from 196,000 to 195,000. The 4-week moving average was 189,500, an increase of 500 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised down by 250 from 189,250 to 189,000.

Employer:                               Tri-City Electrical Contractors Inc.

Investigation sites:                430 West Drive, Altamonte Springs, FL, 32714 (Headquarters)

                                                13891 Jetport Loop Road, Fort Myers, FL 33913

                                                5911 Breckenridge Parkway, Tampa, FL 33610

WASHINGTON – A federal administrative law judge has ordered the operator of mining complexes in southern West Virginia and eastern Kentucky to pay civil penalties totaling $349,444 to resolve 533 citations for mine safety and health violations U.S. Department of Labor inspectors identified at 14 mines.

AVON, OH – Despite being warned in September 2021 that the hours worked by 14- and 15-year-old employees at its Slim Chickens’ franchise in Streetsboro violated federal law, the owner continued the illegal practices for several months at a second location in Avon, the U.S. Department of Labor has found.

Employers:                            Gentle Shepherd Care LLC

                                                8604 Cliff Cameron Drive, Suite 144

                                                Charlotte, NC 28269

                                              At Home Personal Care Services Inc.

LANCASTER, KY – Una planta procesadora de carne de Lancaster permitió a ocho empleados menores de edad trabajar fuera de las horas permitidas por el gobierno federal y realizar trabajos peligrosos, según descubrió una investigación federal.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced that Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh has made several appointments and changes to the staffing of the appeals boards that review a variety of workplace and worker rights claims. The actions will increase efficiency, ensure workplace justice and improve the quality of services provided to the nation’s workers and families.

LANCASTER, KY – A Lancaster meat processing plant allowed eight minor-aged employees to work outside of federally allowed hours and engage in hazardous work, a federal investigation has found.

WAUSEON, OH – The operator of Wauseon restaurant forced servers – who worked an average of 60 hours a week – to cash paychecks and then pay their wages back to him in cash, allowing the workers to keep just the tips they earned plus $20 in each two-week pay period, a U.S. Department of Labor investigation has found.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced an award of $2.5 million to support an initiative to assess and expand the successful Fair Food Program model with a pilot project to promote human and labor rights focused on cut flower farms in Chile, Mexico and South Africa. 

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – The opening of a federal investigation into the pay practices of a Haslett assisted living facility in the fall of 2021 prompted its owner to threaten employees with termination if they spoke with investigators and trick them into admitting whether or not they had cooperated with the investigation, a U.S. Department of Labor lawsuit filed on Feb. 3, 2023, alleges.   

Employer:       Marble Slab Creamery of Pier Park Inc., operating as Marble Slab Creamery

Investigation site:    600 Pier Park, Suite 120, Panama City Beach, FL 32413

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced that its Occupational Safety and Health Administration will withdraw its proposal to reconsider and revoke final approval of Arizona’s State Plan for occupational safety and health, and by doing so, will leave the state’s plan in place.

AUSTIN, TX – Una investigación federal descubrió que una compañía de suministros de jardinería de Austin, donde un empleado de 17 años sufrió lesiones graves en un incidente de montacargas en junio de 2021, le permitió trabajar en ocupaciones peligrosas y prohibidas en violación de la ley federal de trabajo de menores de edad.

AUSTIN, TX – A federal investigation has found an Austin landscape supply company, where a 17-year-old employee suffered serious injuries in a forklift incident in June 2021, allowed them to work in hazardous and prohibited occupations in violation of federal child labor law.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced an award of $4.25 million to continue its efforts to end forced labor by supporting a global technical assistance project by the International Labor Organization, a United Nations’ agency seeking to advance social and economic justice by setting international labor standards and promoting rights at work.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh joined Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Doug Parker today to sign a memorandum that gives the Occupational Safety and Health Administration the authority to issue certifications in support of applications for U Nonimmigrant Status and T Nonimmigrant Status visas.

RALEIGH, NC – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $38,891 in back wages for 55 adult employees with developmental disabilities after finding their Goldsboro non-profit employer had not renewed their federal certification to pay them subminimum wages but continued to do so.