BOISE, ID – A federal court and the department’s Office of Administrative Law Judges have ordered an Oakley stone quarry to pay $983,725 in back wages and liquidated damages after U.S. Department of Labor investigators found that the employer violated multiple federal labor laws, which denied 60 workers their rightfully earned wages.

Employers:                Fa Fa 318 LLC and Sanxi Inc., operators of Japan House restaurants

Investigation sites:   

1989 E. Main St., Suite A, Spartanburg, SC 29307

1703 John B. White Sr. Blvd., Suite C, Spartanburg, SC 29301

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of a $12 million cooperative agreement to the American Center for International Labor Solidarity to strengthen democratic, independent workers’ organizations in Brazil, Colombia and Peru.

APPLETON, WI – An Appleton contractor with a long history of exposing employees to dangerous fall hazards now faces $349,371 in additional penalties after U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspectors observed roofing workers at heights greater than 6 feet at risk of serious or fatal injuries at two Appleton-area jobsites in May and June 2022.

POOLER, GA – Following a workplace safety inspection, federal investigators determined a Pooler location of a national discount retailer stacked and stored merchandise unsafely, exposing workers to struck-by hazards from falling boxes and preventing them from exiting the store quickly in an emergency.

Employer:   Martinez Lawn & Irrigation Services Corp.

Investigation site:    320 Enterprise St., Ocoee, FL 34761

Employers:                  

Point Pleasant Associates Inc., Owner Bidiawatie Singh and company officer Surjeet Singh                 

In the week ending November 19, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 240,000, an increase of 17,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 222,000 to 223,000. The 4-week moving average was 226,750, an increase of 5,500 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 250 from 221,000 to 221,250.

WASHINGTON – Deputy Undersecretary of Labor for International Affairs Thea Lee visited Vietnam from Nov. 15 through 17, 2022, to resume a dialogue on labor issues that began in 2002.

COLUMBUS, OH – When federal workplace safety inspectors opened an investigation at a Dollar General store in Columbus, they discovered violations that were all-too-familiar and the kind that has led to more than $15 million in proposed penalties since 2017 for one of the nation’s largest discount retailers.

BROADVIEW, IL ‒ Federal safety investigators found a Schaumburg excavating contractor has again failed to follow federally mandated safety measures to protect workers from potentially deadly trenches cave-ins.

Trench collapses are among the construction industry’s most lethal hazards. In the first six months of 2022, OSHA reports 22 workers suffered fatal injuries in trenching and excavation work.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a final rule that allows plan fiduciaries to consider climate change and other environmental, social and governance factors when they select retirement investments and exercise shareholder rights, such as proxy voting.

INDIANOLA, MS - En una serie de investigaciones en curso sobre acusaciones de robo de salarios y desplazamiento ilegal de trabajadores de EE. UU. por parte de los empleadores agrícolas de Mississippi Delta en el programa de trabajadores invitados temporales H-2A, el Departamento de Trabajo de EE. UU. identificó varias violaciones por parte de 11 empleadores.

CAMDEN, NJ – The U.S. Department of Labor and Cooper Health System have entered into a conciliation agreement to resolve alleged hiring and compensation discrimination at the teaching hospital and biomedical research facility in Camden.

JERSEY CITY, NJ – The U.S. Department of Labor and the Bank of New York Mellon Corp. have entered into an agreement to resolve alleged systematic discrimination by the federal contractor against female, Black and Hispanic employees at its Jersey City location.

ELKHART, IN – Federal investigators have recovered $1,158,536 in back wages for overtime due to 710 workers at an Elkhart, Indiana, recreational vehicle manufacturer. For more than two years, the employer incorrectly calculated overtime wages for workers paid on a piece-rate basis.

INDIANOLA, MS – In an ongoing series of investigations into allegations of wage theft and illegal displacement of U.S. workers by Mississippi Delta agricultural employers in the H-2A temporary guest worker program, the U.S. Department of Labor identified several violations by 11 employers.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor has awarded $1,253,728 to the Kentucky Education and Labor Cabinet to help the commonwealth start a Short-Time Compensation program, a unique approach to prevent worker layoffs by enabling states to pay partial unemployment benefits when an employer must reduce employees’ work hours during economic downturns.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Deputy Secretary of Labor Julie Su visited the Hospitality Training Academy in Los Angeles on Nov. 17, 2022, to see how its Registered Apprenticeship Programs are providing workers – especially women of color – the training and skills they need to secure good union jobs. The visit coincided with National Women in Apprenticeship Day.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced that its Employee Benefits Security Administration has proposed updates to its Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program, including a self-correction component for employers who fail to send employee salary withholding contributions or participant loan repayments to retirement plans in a timely manner.