In the week ending September 9, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 220,000, an increase of 3,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 216,000 to 217,000. The 4-week moving average was 224,500, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 250 from 229,250 to 229,500.

MIDLOTHIAN, TX – A U.S. Department of Labor workplace safety investigation has found that a Houston-based contractor willfully and repeatedly exposed its workers to falls, electrical hazards and amputations.

PHOENIX – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $22.5 million from an employee stock ownership plan’s former trustee, Reliance Trust Company for the plan’s overpayment for a recreational vehicle rental company’s stock, after obtaining approval of a consent judgment in the U.S. District Court for Arizona on Aug. 30, 2023.

Employer:                       Sharky’s Vintage Park LLC

                                             operating as Sharky’s American Grill & Sharky’s Waterfront Grill LLC

Investigation sites:    Corporate headquarters

DALLAS – The Nielsen Company US LLC, a global marketing research, data analytics and opinion-research company, will pay $570,000 in back wages and interest to resolve allegations of systemic race-based hiring discrimination in Dallas and San Antonio identified by the U.S. Department of Labor.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today proposed a new rule that would strengthen protections for farm workers in the H-2A program and help prevent abuses that undermine wages and standards for all agricultural workers.

HATTIESBURG, MS – Los investigadores del Departamento de Trabajo de EE. UU. están tratando de entrevistar a los empleados de una planta avícola de Hattiesburg mientras continúan su investigación sobre la muerte de un trabajador de 16 años en julio de 2023.

HATTIESBURG, MS – U.S. Department of Labor investigators are seeking to interview employees at a Hattiesburg poultry plant as they continue their probe into the death of a 16-year-old worker in July 2023.

WILMINGTON, DE – The U.S. Department of Labor has entered into a conciliation agreement with Navient Corp. to resolve alleged hiring discrimination at three of its facilities in Indiana, Pennsylvania and Texas. The Wilmington-based Navient Corp.'s entities have several contracts with the federal government.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a notice of proposed rulemaking to revise current procedures for imposing and appealing civil money penalties established by the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act.

HONOLULU – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $693,100 in back wages and damages after its investigations determined a Georgia-based prime contractor schemed to deny payment of overtime wages to 110 construction workers from 12 states employed on several hotel renovation projects in Honolulu between 2019 and 2022.

TRENTON, MO – On March 27, 2023, an 18-year-old employee of a Missouri contractor was applying sealant to a commercial building’s roof when he fell more than 22 feet and suffered serious injuries that left him in a coma for five days before dying.

NORRISTOWN, PA – A federal court in Pennsylvania has entered a consent judgment ordering a Norristown restaurant and its owners to pay $252,579 in back wages and liquidated damages to 21 employees, an action that follows a federal investigation that found the employers denied proper overtime pay intentionally.

WASHINGTON – To support workforce development programs that prepare young people and help them access good-paying careers, the U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of $14 million in grants to seven organizations in five states to deliver workforce services when youth are out of school.

Employers:    Urgent Dental Center Avon LLC

Actions:          Fair Labor Standards Act consent judgment and order

NEW ORLEANS – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment requiring the operator of a New Orleans-area home healthcare agency to pay 80 workers a total of $630,000 in back wages and damages after the employer misclassified them as independent contractors.

BEACHWOOD, OH ‒ While the potential deadly risks of mixing electricity and water are well known, Take 5 Car Wash, a Beachwood company operated by a subsidiary of one of the nation’s largest automotive services companies, ignored reports of employees suffering electrical shocks for more than 14 months, a U.S. Department of Labor investigation has found.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of a $7.5 million, five-year cooperative agreement to continue support for a policy center aimed at boosting disabled youth employment.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor announced that its Employee Benefits Security Administration is seeking nominations to fill five, three-year vacancies on the Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans, known as the ERISA Advisory Council. The deadline to submit nominations is Oct. 23, 2023.

GREEN BAY, WI – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a federal consent order and judgment against sawmill operator Florence Hardwoods LLC following the death of a child. The order requires the Florence County company to place labels and signage to prevent children under age 18 from using dangerous equipment and entering the company’s sawmill and planer buildings.