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. 

WASHINGTON – The U.S.

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.

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. 

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.

Employer:   25 Vape & Smoke LLC

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

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.

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. 

WASHINGTON – The U.S.

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.

Employer:                                    Domo Café Kahala and Domo Café Chinatown

TULSA, OK – El Departamento de Trabajo de los EE. UU.

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. 

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.

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.

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

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.

Employers:    Detroit Body Guards Protection Unit LLC

                             Carla Bland, human resources director

Actions:          Fair Labor Standards Act consent judgment and order

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.

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.