In the week ending August 22, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 1,006,000, a decrease of 98,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised down by 2,000 from 1,106,000 to 1,104,000. The 4-week moving average was 1,068,000, a decrease of 107,250 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised down by 500 from 1,175,750 to 1,175,250.

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WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia today announced the award of nearly $20 million in funding to four states as part of a new pilot program to address the health and economic impacts of widespread substance and opioid misuse, addiction and overdose by providing retraining and other services to workers in communities significantly impacted by the opioid crisis.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of $80,684,142 in grants through the National Farmworker Jobs Program (NFJP) to provide career services, training services, youth services, related assistances, and housing services to eligible migrant and seasonal farmworkers and their dependents.

COLUMBUS, OH – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a default judgment requiring Robert Walton, Jr. – CEO of Hadsell Chemical Processing – to restore $65,842 to the Hadsell Chemical Processing Simple IRA Plan after the Department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) found that Walton, as plan fiduciary, violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

LOS ANGELES, CA – The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California has sentenced Mahyar David Yadidi – a San Pedro, California, chiropractor – to prison and ordered him to make restitution for defrauding the International Longshore and Warehouse Union-Pacific Maritime Association (ILWU-PMA) Welfare Plan. The court’s action follows an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) and Office of Inspector General (OIG).

HARTFORD, CT – The U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut has approved a consent order and judgment requiring fiduciaries Executive Printing of Darien LLC, Chapin Packaging LLC and John Trask Pfeifle to restore $17,352.83 to the Darien, Connecticut, companies’ 401(k) retirement benefits plan.

DALLAS, TX – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has entered into a conciliation agreement with Wells Fargo Bank N.A. in which the bank has agreed to pay $7,800,000 in back wages and interest to resolve allegations of hiring discrimination.

HARRISONVILLE, NJ – A judge in the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Administrative Law Judges (OALJ) has ordered a Harrisonville, New Jersey, tomato farm to pay $49,423 in back wages to 62 farmworkers, the majority of which the employer recruited from Mexico as temporary foreign workers on H-2A visas. The judge also ordered the employer to pay $7,634 in civil money penalties.

WEST PALM BEACH, FL – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Hurricane Wings Management LLC – a restaurant chain based in West Palm Beach, Florida – has paid $115,966 in back wages to 160 employees for minimum wage and overtime violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) at two locations.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced additional funding of $7,334,788 for a Disaster Recovery National Dislocated Worker Grant awarded to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity in response to Hurricane Michael.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency issued an emergency declaration for the State one day prior to the storm’s landfall on Oct. 10, 2018. These funds will allow grant participants to continue the ongoing cleanup and recovery efforts in 35 counties. 

WASHINGTON DC – With telework arrangements expanding in response to the coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) today issued Field Assistance Bulletin 2020-5 to clarify an employer’s obligation to track the number of hours of compensable work performed by employees who are teleworking or otherwise working away from premises controlled by their employers.

WASHINGTON, DC – Last week, the U.S. Department of Labor took a range of actions to aid American workers and employers as our nation combats the coronavirus pandemic.

Reopening America’s Economy:

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced publication of its “Promoting Regulatory Openness through Good Guidance Rule” (PRO Good Guidance Rule). The rule, which implements Executive Order 13891, “Promoting the Rule of Law through Improved Agency Guidance Documents,” seeks to create fairer procedures for the issuance and use of regulatory guidance at the Department of Labor. 

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia traveled to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he highlighted the nation’s continuing economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. Secretary Scalia first toured the Trade Institute of Pittsburgh, where he participated in a roundtable discussion and met with young people transitioning back into the workforce. Secretary Scalia also visited the Pittsburgh Job Corps Center to meet with students and staff.

ROSEDALE, VA – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Gas Field Services LLC – a pipeline industry contractor based in Rosedale, Virginia – paid $46,786 in back wages to nine employees for violating the overtime and recordkeeping requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a notice of proposed rulemaking on pooled plan provider registration requirements. The proposal seeks to implement the registration requirements for “pooled plan providers” pursuant to the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act of 2019.

In the week ending August 15, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 1,106,000, an increase of 135,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 8,000 from 963,000 to 971,000. The 4-week moving average was 1,175,750, a decrease of 79,000 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 2,000 from 1,252,750 to 1,254,750.

HIALEAH, FL – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Milum Trucking – a freight shipping and trucking company based in Hialeah, Florida – has paid $3,110 in back wages to two employees for wrongly denying them emergency paid sick leave while they sought medical diagnosis for suspected coronavirus infection. Once their tests returned positive, the employer again denied the two employees’ requests for emergency paid sick leave.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have developed a checklist for human and animal food manufacturers to consider when continuing, resuming or reevaluating operations due to the coronavirus pandemic.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor received an A+ on the Small Business Administration’s recently announced Fiscal Year 2019 Small Business Federal Procurement Scorecard, marking the third straight year the Department has received the scorecard’s highest grade.