May 14, 2024

Department of Labor obtains judgment requiring Philadelphia-area home care employer to pay over $1M in overtime back wages, damages, penalties

COLLINGDALE, PA – The Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment in federal court that orders a Delaware County home care agency to pay more than $1 million in back wages, liquidated damages and penalties after the department found the employer shortchanged 159 workers of their earned wages. 

May 2, 2024

Department of Labor finds children employed illegally in dangerous jobs, obtains $4.8M in wages, damages for poultry industry workers in California

WASHINGTON – In one of the largest wage violation settlements ever reached for U.S. poultry workers, a federal court in Los Angeles has entered a consent judgment that orders Fu Qian Chen Lu, Bruce Shu Hua Lok and others as owners and operators of a network of California poultry processors and distributors to pay $4.8 million in back wages and damages to 476 workers and $221,919 in penalties after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation. 

April 26, 2024

US Department of Labor finalizes farmworker protection rule

WASHINGTON – The Department of Labor today announced a final rule to strengthen protections for farmworkers. The rule targets vulnerability and abuses experienced by workers under the H-2A program that undermine fair labor standards for all farmworkers in the U.S. 

April 25, 2024

Department of Labor will offer online wage seminars in May, August on prevailing wage requirements for federally funded projects

WASHINGTON – The Department of Labor today announced its Wage and Hour Division will offer contracting agencies, contractors, unions, workers and other stakeholders opportunities in May or August to attend an online seminar on meeting federal requirements for paying prevailing wages on federally funded construction and service contracts.

April 23, 2024

Department of Labor obtains judgment ordering contractor to pay nearly $1.2M in wages, damages, penalties for illegal employment practices

WASHINGTON  The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment in federal court that orders a Virginia concrete contractor to pay nearly $1.2 million in back wages, damages and penalties after its investigation found the employer misclassified 29 employees as independent contractors and failed to pay proper overtime to its employees.

April 23, 2024

Biden-Harris administration finalizes rule to increase compensation thresholds for overtime eligibility, expanding protections for millions of workers

WASHINGTON – The Biden-Harris administration today announced a final rule that expands overtime protections for millions of the nation’s lower-paid salaried workers by increasing the salary thresholds required to exempt a salaried bona fide executive, administrative or professional employee from federal overtime pay requirements. 

April 22, 2024

Federal court orders 4 Arizona contractors to pay over $3.2M in owed wages, damages to 890 workers after Department of Labor investigations

PHOENIX – The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that efforts to protect residential construction workers from unlawful pay practices have recovered a total of $3.2 million in wages and damages from four Arizona contractors for 890 workers.

April 9, 2024

Tribunal ordena a productor de coronas navideñas pagar $1.8M en salarios y daños a 700 trabajadores tras accidente de camioneta

SEATTLE - Un tribunal federal ha ordenado a un productor de coronas navideñas para su venta por grandes comercios, incluidos Costco, Publix, Target, Trader Joe’s, Walmart y Wegmans, pagar $1.85 millones en salarios atrasados y daños a casi 700 trabajadores después de que el Departamento de Trabajo de Estados Unidos descubriera que el empleador no pagó los salarios de horas extras requeridos y vulneró los derechos de los trabajadores migrantes y de temporada.

April 4, 2024

Court orders holiday wreaths producer to pay $1.8M in back wages, damages to 700 workers; wage investigation began after van crash injured workers

SEATTLE – A federal court has ordered a producer of Christmas wreaths and seasonal greens for major retailers — including Costco, Publix, Target, Trader Joe’s, Walmart and Wegmans — to pay $1.85 million in back wages and damages to nearly 700 workers after the U.S. Department of Labor found the employer failed to pay required overtime wages and violated migrant and seasonal workers’ rights.

March 25, 2024

US Department of Labor requires Tennessee parts manufacturer to turn over profits from oppressive child labor use, compensate victims

GREENVILLE, TN – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of the Solicitor has obtained a federal consent judgment that requires a Morristown manufacturer of outdoor power equipment components for major companies including John Deere, Toro and Yamaha to stop employing children illegally and to follow federal child labor laws in the future. 

March 25, 2024

Investigation recovers $560K for workers denied full wages, benefits by District of Columbia behavioral health department’s group homes provider

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered more than $560,000 after its investigation found an operator of group homes deprived 34 workers in the District of Columbia-area of their full wages and fringe benefits.

February 21, 2024

US Department of Labor seeks injunction to stop use of ‘oppressive child labor’ by Fayette Janitorial Service at meat processing facilities

SIOUX CITY, IA – The U.S. Department of Labor today asked a federal court to issue a nationwide temporary restraining order and injunction against Fayette Janitorial Service LLC – operating as Fayette Industrial – to stop the Tennessee-based company from illegally employing children while the department continues its investigations of the company’s labor practices.

February 7, 2024

Un contratista especializado en techos paga $117,175 de multa tras la caída fatal de un joven de 15 años en un lugar de trabajo en Alabama

CULLMAN, AL Apex Roofing & Restoration LLC pagó $117,175 en multas monetarias civiles después de que el Departamento de Trabajo de los EE. UU.

February 7, 2024

Roofing contractor pays $117,175 penalty after 15-year-old’s fatal fall at Alabama work site

CULLMAN, AL Apex Roofing & Restoration LLC paid $117,175 in civil money penalties after the U.S. Department of Labor determined that the Pelham roofing contractor employed a 15-year-old child in violation of federal child labor laws, resulting in the child’s death at a Cullman worksite. 

January 30, 2024

Department of Labor announces seminars for current, prospective federal contractors on prevailing wage requirements

WASHINGTON The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that its Wage and Hour Division will offer online seminars throughout 2024 for contracting agencies, contractors, unions, workers and other stakeholders on the requirements for paying prevailing wages on federally funded construction and service contracts.

January 29, 2024

Nearly $16M in wages, benefits recovered for more than 2,800 workers denied full pay by 62 subcontractors on federal project at New Jersey military base

MCGUIRE AIR FORCE BASE, NJ  A widespread investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor has recovered nearly $16 million in back wages and restored over 24,700 paid sick leave hours to leave banks for more than 2,800 workers denied their full wages and benefits by 62 subcontractors hired to construct temporary housing and provide services to Afghan refugees at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey.

January 11, 2024

Philadelphia home healthcare agency, owner must pay $1.6M in overtime back wages, damages after federal investigation, litigation

PHILADELPHIA – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment in federal court that requires a Philadelphia home healthcare agency and its owner to pay approximately $1.6 million in back wages and liquidated damages to 288 workers deliberately denied overtime pay.

January 9, 2024

US Department of Labor announces final rule on classifying workers as employees or independent contractors under the Fair Labor Standards Act

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a final rule to help employers and workers better understand when a worker qualifies as an employee and when they may be considered an independent contractor under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

January 3, 2024

Department of Labor recovers $1.1M for 165 garment workers after sewing contractors withheld overtime wages, falsified records

LOS ANGELES – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced an investigation recovered more than $1 million in back wages and damages — its largest settlement to date for California garment workers — for 165 workers after finding a Los Angeles garment contractor denied them overtime wages illegally and then tried to conceal the wage theft. 

December 19, 2023

Department of Labor fines Wisconsin sawmill nearly $1.4M after allowing teens to operate dangerous machinery

FLORENCE, WI – Despite federal regulations barring young workers from operating dangerous machinery, the management of a Wisconsin sawmill allowed several minors workers to perform maintenance on equipment without training or following required safety procedures.

On June 29, 2023, a 16-year-old worker became trapped in a stick stacker machine as he tried to unjam it. The young worker remained trapped until he was found and freed, and then transported to the hospital where he passed away two days later.