December 3, 2024

Department of Labor obtains consent judgment ordering 2 healthcare staffing companies to pay a total of more than $2.4M in back wages, liquidated damages to 341 employees

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment and order in federal court that recovers a total of more than $2.4 million in back wages and liquidated damages from Massachusetts and Pennsylvania healthcare staffing agencies that denied 341 employees overtime wages, including employees misclassified as independent contractors

December 3, 2024

US Department of Labor announces proposed rule to phase out certificates allowing payment of less than minimum wage to workers with disabilities

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a proposed rule that would phase out the issuance of certificates allowing employers to pay some workers with disabilities less than the federal minimum wage, currently $7.25 per hour, for the work they perform.

December 2, 2024

Department of Labor obtains judgment to recover $72K in wages, damages for 20 workers denied full wages by Oklahoma farm, landscape stores

TULSA, OK  The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment and injunction to recover $72,000 in back wages and liquidated damages for 20 workers whose Oklahoma employer misapplied the agriculture exemption to retail workers and did not pay overtime to employees who worked more than 40 hours per week regularly. 

December 2, 2024

US Department of Labor extends public comment period for proposed heat injury, illness prevention rule until Jan. 14, 2025

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced that its Occupational Safety and Health Administration has extended the public comment period for its proposed rule to protect workers from extreme heat exposure in indoor and outdoor workplaces to remain open until Jan. 14, 2025.

November 29, 2024

Qvest LLC must pay $171K after federal investigators find sanitation contractor employed 11 children at Sioux City pork processing plant

SIOUX CITY, IA – The U.S. Department of Labor has found a second sanitation contractor at the Seaboard Triumph Foods LLC facility that employed children to perform dangerous work during overnight shifts at its Sioux City pork processing plant.

November 27, 2024

US Department of Labor recovers $184K in back wages, damages, penalties after wage investigation finds Pittsburgh restaurant unlawfully withheld tips

Employer:      

Sly Fox Brewing Company, 331 Circle of Progress Drive, Pottstown, Pennsylvania                           

Investigation sites:                  

Sly Fox Pittsburgh Taphouse at the Point, 300 Liberty Ave., Pittsburgh

November 27, 2024

US Department of Labor signs framework with governments of Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, industry to combat child labor in West African cocoa production

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the signing of a new framework of action alongside the governments of Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana and the World Cocoa Foundation to address child labor in the West African cocoa sector.

Together, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana produce nearly 60 percent of the world’s cocoa each year. Despite progress, children are still engaged in child labor on cocoa farms in these two countries.

November 27, 2024

Federal courts orders Detroit security company, HR director to pay $68K in back wages, damages, penalties for shortchanging guards overtime

Employers:    Detroit Body Guards Protection Unit LLC

                             Carla Bland, human resources director

Actions:          Fair Labor Standards Act consent judgment and order

November 27, 2024

Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report

In the week ending November 23, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 213,000, a decrease of 2,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 2,000 from 213,000 to 215,000. The 4-week moving average was 217,000, a decrease of 1,250 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 500 from 217,750 to 218,250.

November 26, 2024

Department of Labor obtains judgment ordering Arizona contractor to pay $1.7M after denying drywall workers their owed wages

PHOENIX – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a judgment in federal court ordering a drywall contractor in Arizona to pay more than $1.7 million in back wages and damages to 246 workers.

November 26, 2024

Ohio hardwood flooring manufacturer faces $255K in fines after worker suffers partial arm amputation when caught in machine at Portsmouth mill

 PORTSMOUTH, OH – Once again, the U.S. Department of Labor has cited a Portsmouth hardwood floor manufacturer with a long history of federal safety violations after the company reported a 23-year-old worker suffered a partial arm amputation while troubleshooting a rip saw machine at the manufacturer’s Charles Street facility.

November 25, 2024

US Department of Labor, IRS, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. release information for annual benefits plan report/return filings

The U.S. Department of Labor today announced that its Employee Benefits Security Administration joined the IRS and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. in releasing informational copies of the 2024 Form 5500, Form 5500-SF, IRS Form 5500-EZ, IRS Form 5558 and related instructions online. 

November 22, 2024

US Department of Labor, Office of the Trade Representative seek review of alleged labor rights denial at Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, auto parts facility

WASHINGTON – The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement’s Interagency Labor Committee for Monitoring and Enforcement today requested that the government of Mexico review an alleged denial of workers’ rights at Akwel Juarez, an automotive component manufacturing facility in Ciudad Juarez, State of Chihuahua, Mexico.

The U.S. Department of Labor and U.S. Trade Representative co-chair the Interagency Labor Committee.

November 22, 2024

Fort Wayne auto emissions manufacturer will pay $101K in back wages, damages to 260 workers for shortchanging them overtime

Employer:      Faurecia Emissions Control Technologies USA Inc.

                             Fort Wayne, Indiana

Actions:          Fair Labor Standards Act investigation

November 22, 2024

Department of Labor reaches settlement with Mississippi pipe manufacturer to correct safety failures that led to 25-year-old worker’s fatal injuries

BAY SAINT LOUIS, MS – The U.S. Department of Labor has entered into a settlement agreement with a Mississippi steel pipe manufacturer with a long history of safety failures to correct recent conditions that led to a 25-year-old employee’s fatal injuries in January 2024 in Bay Saint Louis.

November 21, 2024

US Department of Labor announces new research that underscores benefits of paid family and medical leave

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the release of new research it commissioned that found a national paid family and medical leave program would reduce poverty across all communities and diminish the poverty gap among workers, especially Black and Hispanic workers who experience some of the highest poverty rates.