BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Tyson Foods Inc., one of the nation's largest poultry producers, has been found in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) at its Blountsville, Ala., facility. The jury's verdict in federal court in Birmingham resulted from a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Labor against the company.

SAN FRANCISCO — The owners of a Southland residential cleaning service were taken into custody and later released after failing to comply with a court order directing payment of $3.5 million in back wages, plus interest, fines and liquidated damages to at least 385 workers.

"It is unconscionable that an employer would continue to disregard the obligation to pay vulnerable workers, even after being ordered to do so by a federal judge," said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis.

BOSTON — The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered more than $1.4 million in back wages for 237 employees of Computer Sciences Corp., a contractor for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Vermont Service Center at various locations in St. Albans and Essex Junction, Vt.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor would like to notify all former Standard Oil Development Co. workers who worked in Linden, N.J., from 1942 to 1945 about a new class of employees added to the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act's (EEOICPA) Special Exposure Cohort (SEC). The EEOICPA provides compensation and medical benefits to employees who became ill as a result of working in the nuclear weapons industry. Survivors of qualified employees may also be entitled to benefits.

BOSTON — The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered more than $1.5 million in back wages for 272 employees of SI International SEIT Inc., a contractor for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Vermont Service Center, at various locations in St. Albans and Essex Junction, Vt.

FORT SMITH, Ark. — The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) announced Gerber Products Co. has agreed to settle findings of hiring discrimination against 1,912 rejected minority and female applicants for entry-level positions. The agreement settles the department's allegations that Gerber engaged in hiring discrimination against minority and female applicants for one year.

RALEIGH, N.C. — The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division has fined nine farms and 17 farm labor contractors doing business in Bladen and Craven counties, N.C., for violating federal labor law, including employing children as young as eight years old as farm laborers.

The investigation is part of the agency's ongoing agricultural initiative aimed at protecting the rights of farm workers under provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act and Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA).

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor today announced that it has paid more than $5 billion in compensation and medical benefits to more than 52,600 claimants nationwide under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA). This milestone coincides with the eighth anniversary of the Labor Department's administration of the EEOICPA, which provides compensation and medical benefits to employees who became ill as a result of working in the nuclear weapons industry.

TULSA, Okla. — QuikTrip Corp. has agreed to pay $747,729 in overtime back wages for 3,819 current and former convenience store workers following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division's Arkansas-Oklahoma District Office.

BOSTON — Partners HealthCare Systems Inc. and its affiliated hospitals and health care companies throughout eastern Massachusetts have agreed to pay 700 employees more than $2.7 million in overtime back wages to resolve a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Labor alleging violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

"We are pleased that the department has succeeded in securing such a substantial amount of back wages for these workers who were not properly paid for overtime they had worked," said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis.

Millions of workers across 30 states will see more money in their paychecks

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor reminds employers and employees that the federal minimum wage will increase to $7.25 on Friday, July 24. With this change, employees who are covered by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) will be entitled to pay no less than $7.25 per hour.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor would like to notify all former Tyson Valley Powder Farm workers about a new class of employees added to the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act's (EEOICPA) Special Exposure Cohort (SEC). The EEOICPA provides compensation and medical benefits to employees who became ill as a result of working in the nuclear weapons industry. Survivors of qualified employees may also be entitled to benefits.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor would like to notify all former Westinghouse Atomic Power Development Plant workers about a new class of employees added to the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act's (EEOICPA) Special Exposure Cohort (SEC). The EEOICPA provides compensation and medical benefits to employees who became ill as a result of working in the nuclear weapons industry. Survivors of qualified employees may also be entitled to benefits.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor would like to notify all former Hood Building workers about a new class of employees added to the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act's (EEOICPA) Special Exposure Cohort (SEC). The EEOICPA provides compensation and medical benefits to employees who became ill as a result of working in the nuclear weapons industry. Survivors of qualified employees may also be entitled to benefits.

NEW YORK — Atlantic Auto Care Center Inc. of Brooklyn; 109th & First Avenue Corp. of Manhattan; 3808 Boston Road Car Wash Inc., 2434 CW Corp. and Boulevard Car Wash of N.Y. Inc., all of the Bronx; Michael's Car Wash Inc. and Howard Beach Car Wash Corp., both of Queens; 613 Car Wash Corp.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor today announced that it has paid more than $500 million in compensation and medical benefits to 4,798 current and former employees of the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant and their survivors under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA). The EEOICPA was created to assist individuals who became ill as a result of working in the atomic weapons industry. Survivors of such individuals may also be eligible for benefits.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor today announced that it has paid more than $1 billion in compensation and medical benefits to 9,134 Tennessee residents under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA). The act was created to assist those individuals who became ill as a result of working in the atomic weapons industry. Survivors of such individuals may also be eligible for benefits.

New minimum rates become effective this month

WASHINGTON — The federal minimum wage will increase for employees in American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), effective May 25 and May 26 respectively. With the increase, the new minimum wage rates in American Samoa, which vary by industry, will range from $4.18 for garment manufacturing to $5.59 for certain types of shipping and transportation. Employees who work in the CNMI can expect to receive $4.55 per hour.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor today announced that it has paid more than $400 million in compensation and medical benefits to Colorado residents under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA). The act was created to assist those individuals who became ill as a result of working in the atomic weapons industry. Survivors of such individuals may also be eligible for benefits.

ATLANTA – The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division has fined Demon Demo Inc. a child labor civil money penalty following an investigation into the death of a teenage worker at the company's Gwinnett Place mall demolition site from a second floor fall.