WASHINGTON – As the nation observes National Nurses Week, U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh met with a group of nursing professionals from around the nation on May 6, 2022, and discussed their bedside experiences with patients during the pandemic, healthcare industry staffing challenges and the importance of quality jobs in retaining and recruiting workers.

GRASSY BUTTE, ND – Federal workplace safety investigators determined that an oil company’s failure to take adequate safety precautions contributed to a drilling site explosion near Grassy Butte on Nov. 4, 2021, that permanently disabled one worker and left two others with serious injuries.

SALT LAKE CITY – A federal judge has upheld an assessment by the U.S. Department of Labor of $1,964,450 in civil money penalties against Paragon Contractors Corp. and its owner Brian Jessop.

BALTIMORE – A federal judge has ordered four interrelated Upper Marlboro providers of assisted living, adult day care and transportation services to pay $364,604 – $182,302 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages – to 132 workers after the U.S. Department of Labor found numerous pay practice infractions in a Wage and Hour Division investigation.

SAN DIEGO – Official merchandise for artists including the Rolling Stones, Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, Willie Nelson or Ariana Grande may have been made by workers at a San Diego silk-screening contractor who denied them the wages they earned for their work.

CHARLESTON, SC - Un restaurante de Charleston pagaba de menos a 92 trabajadores al obligarlos a participar en propinas compartidas ilegales, que incluían a los encargados y a otros empleados que no suelen recibir propinas, lo que dio como resultado violaciones del salario mínimo federal y de las horas extras, según reveló una investigación del Departamento de Trabajo de EE. UU.

CHARLESTON, SC – A Charleston restaurant shortchanged 92 workers by forcing them to participate in an illegal tip pool that included management and other typically non-tipped employees, which led to federal minimum wage and overtime violations, a U.S. Department of Labor investigation has revealed.

Employer: Angels on Earth PPEC Inc.

Investigation sites:  

12200 Menta St., Orlando 32837

110 Patterson Road, Haines City 33844

335 Pineda Court, Melbourne 32940

7405 U.S. Highway 98 North, Lakeland 33809

PHILADELPHIA─ The U.S. Department of Labor will hold an online listening session with employees, employers and other stakeholders in the Northeast on May 13, 2022, on possible revisions to the regulations that enforce the Fair Labor Standards Act’s minimum wage and overtime exemptions for executive, administrative and professional employees.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh issued the following statement on the April 2022 Employment Situation Report:

MILWAUKEE – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Wisconsin On-Site Safety and Health Consultation Program, Gilbane Building Co., C.D. Smith Construction and labor unions are partnering to protect worker safety and health at the Wisconsin Center Expansion project in Milwaukee.

PROVIDENCE, RI – Four Ocean State medical facilities in Providence and West Greenwich, and their owner and operator, will pay $175,000 in back wages and liquidated damages to 103 employees to resolve violations of federal overtime requirements, after an investigation and litigation by the U.S. Department of Labor. The employer will also pay $50,000 in civil money penalties.

COVINGTON, GA – A federal workplace safety investigation has determined that two companies failed to follow required safety standards that could have prevented a bridge collapse and spared the life of a 33-year-old worker on a demolition project in Covington on Oct. 19, 2021.

CHICAGO – The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a complaint and has asked a federal court to issue a temporary restraining order against a Huntley restaurant and its owners for retaliating and intimidating workers illegally during an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division.

In the week ending April 30, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 200,000, an increase of 19,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 180,000 to 181,000. The 4-week moving average was 188,000, an increase of 8,000 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 250 from 179,750 to 180,000.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Marty Walsh and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra met with health insurance and business leaders on May 3 to discuss compliance with the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, adequacy of in-network providers and mental health and substance use disorder treatment during the pandemic, as the nation observes Mental Health Awareness Month.

Participant:   Acushnet Company, Custom Operations. New Bedford, Massachusetts

PHOENIX – Following a U.S. Department of Labor investigation that found a Phoenix-area landscaping company and its owner used illegal pay practices, lied to investigators and intimidated workers, a consent judgment has been entered in federal court to recover back wages and damages for employees and hold the employer accountable.

Employer name:                    United Cerebral Palsy of Greater New Orleans Inc.

Investigation site:                  New Orleans, Louisiana

OKLAHOMA CITY – Federal workplace safety investigators found that a construction company’s failure to prevent sudden start-up of a conveyor system contributed to an 18-year-old worker’s fatal injuries after he was pulled into a hot asphalt silo as he tried to remove debris from the conveyor in Oklahoma City on Nov. 2, 2021.