December 5, 2024

Department of Labor cites North Florida contractors for willfully endangering employees in excavations without required safety protections

JACKSONVILLE, FL  In one week, U.S. Department of Labor safety inspectors found two contractors working in Jacksonville and Daytona Beach willfully exposing employees to one of the construction industry’s deadliest hazards: trench and excavation collapses and cave-ins. 

December 5, 2024

US Department of Labor finds lack of training, other failures led forklift operator to suffer fatal injuries at Elm Mott tire distribution facility

FORT WORTH, TX – A U.S. Department of Labor investigation revealed that proper workplace safety training and correct storage of pallets taller than 16 feet could have prevented the fatal injuries suffered by a forklift operator at a tire distribution center in Elm Mott.

December 5, 2024

US Department of Labor conducted impact inspections at 15 mines with histories of repeated health, safety violations in October 2024

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that its Mine Safety and Health Administration completed impact inspections in October 2024 at 15 mines in Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Wyoming and issued 286 violations. 

December 5, 2024

Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report

In the week ending November 30, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 224,000, an increase of 9,000 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 218,250, an increase of 750 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 500 from 217,000 to 217,500.

December 4, 2024

US Department of Labor recovers $24K in back wages, damages from Kentucky employer that denied 22 London smoke shop workers overtime

Employer:   25 Vape & Smoke LLC

Employer address:    1745 North Laurel Road, London, KY 40741

December 4, 2024

Lake Zurich roofing contractor continues to ignore safety regulations, exposing workers to deadly fall hazards in 8 inspections since 2020

LAKE ZURICH, IL – For the eighth time since 2020, federal workplace safety inspectors have cited a Lake Zurich roofing contractor for exposing workers to falls from elevation, the leading cause of fatal and serious injuries among people employed in the construction industry.

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.