HOUMA, La. — B & D Contracting Inc., a labor recruiting and staffing agency that caters to oil field services and maritime fabrication facilities along the Gulf Coast, has agreed to pay $1,660,438 in back wages to 1,543 current and former employees. An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor found that the company engaged in improper pay and record-keeping practices that resulted in employees being denied overtime compensation in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division will offer a comprehensive compliance seminar for employers, community rehabilitation programs and other stakeholders on the rules governing the payment of workers with disabilities under Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The seminar will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. CDT at Gateway Tower II Building, 400 State Ave., Room 201, Kansas City, Kansas 66101. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. There is no charge to attend.

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A judgment entered in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut resolves a lawsuit filed against S.D. Transportation Services LLC, doing business as Premier Limousine, and owner Stephen DiMarco, by the U.S. Department of Labor in March 2012. Premier Limousine, a Berlin company, will pay a total of $500,000 in back wages and liquidated damages to 183 drivers who were denied legally required overtime wages.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — An employee of Nueces Electrical Co-op in Corpus Christi has received $46,920 in back wages and damages after an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division found the company in violation of the Family and Medical Leave Act.

NEW YORK — The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ordering the restaurant chain Manna's to pay a total of $956,482 in back wages and liquidated damages to 85 low-wage workers following an investigation by the department's Wage and Hour Division. The restaurant chain, owned by Betty Park, Kenny H.

AMARILLO, Texas — Big Texan Steak Ranch has agreed to pay $650,000 in minimum wage back wages and $150,000 in liquidated damages to 279 current and former wait staff following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division, which found violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act's minimum wage and record-keeping provisions. Violations stemmed from an illegal tip pooling arrangement by the restaurant.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez announced today a proposed rule extending the protections of the Family and Medical Leave Act to all eligible employees in legal same-sex marriages regardless of where they live. The proposal would help ensure that all families will have the flexibility to deal with serious medical and family situations without fearing the threat of job loss. Secretary Perez is proposing this rule in light of the Supreme Court's decision in United States v.

DALLAS — Four restaurants in the Dallas area have agreed to pay $188,970 in back wages to 61 employees following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division that uncovered violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act's minimum wage, overtime pay and record-keeping provisions. The restaurants are Yes Buffet, Grand Prairie; Crown Buffet and Win Chinese Buffet, Dallas; and Royal Buffet, Rowlett.

VIENNA, W. Va. — Las Trancas Inc., doing business as Las Trancas Mexican Cuisine, a full-service restaurant headquartered in Vienna, will pay a total of $365,834 in back wages to 36 workers employed at two establishments in Clarksburg and Marietta, Ohio. Investigations conducted by the U.S.

WASHINGTON — Fulfilling President Obama's commitment to make 2014 a year of action to strengthen the economy and grow the middle class, U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez today announced a proposed rule raising the minimum wage for workers on federal service and construction contracts to $10.10 per hour. The proposed rule implements Executive Order 13658, which was announced by the president on Feb. 12.

LAS VEGAS — The Southern Nevada Regional Housing Authority has agreed to pay $425,000 in overtime back wages found due to 77 current and former employees following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division. Investigators found the Las Vegas-based state agency in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act's overtime and record-keeping provisions. The Southern Nevada Regional Housing Authority is regulated by the U.S.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Appalachian Oilfield Services LLC has agreed to pay 25 heavy equipment operators $129,802 in overtime back wages after an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division found the company was in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. At eastern Ohio drilling locations, the workers provided cleanup services and hauled away muck ejected from wells in the oil fracking process.

NEW YORK — MDG Design & Construction LLC has reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Labor that resolves wage violations at the federally-assisted Grand Street Guild construction project in New York City's Lower East Side. MDG and other respondents will pay $3.8 million in back wages and fringe benefits to about 200 of MDG's subcontractors' construction workers.

NEW YORK — MDG Design & Construction LLC has reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Labor that resolves wage violations at the federally-assisted Grand Street Guild construction project in New York City's Lower East Side. MDG and other respondents will pay $3.8 million in back wages and fringe benefits to about 200 of MDG's subcontractors' construction workers.

CHICAGO — Under terms of a court order, Indianapolis-based Access Therapies Inc. must pay $81,454 in civil money penalties and $39,946 in back wages to six physical therapists for violations of the H-1B provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The H-1B program allows employers to employ foreign workers temporarily in the U.S. on a nonimmigrant basis in specialty occupations. Access Therapies will be debarred from participation in the H-1B program for a one-year period.

JENA, La. — Justiss Oil Co. Inc. has paid 270 current and former employees $619,830 in back wages after an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division found violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act's overtime and record-keeping provisions. The investigation found that the company violated the FLSA when it did not pay its workers for the time spent at mandatory staff meetings and failed to record the time spent at these meetings.

ATLANTA — The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division will offer a comprehensive compliance seminar for federal contractors, unions and employees on the rules governing prevailing wage requirements under the Davis-Bacon Act, McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act and Executive Order 13495 wage rules for nondisplacement of qualified workers.

PHOENIX — The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $198,085 in back wages for 23 workers employed by Glendale-based Tierra Contracting Inc. for willful violations of the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts and the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act. Tierra Contracting and its owner, Richard Juarez Sr., also have been debarred from applying for federally funded contracts for a period of three years because of the egregious nature of the violations found.

CHICAGO — The U.S. Department of Labor has filed suit against Omega Restaurant Ltd. and its owner, James Chiampas, seeking $145,000 in unpaid wages and liquidated damages for nine employees. An investigation by the department's Wage and Hour Division found violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act's minimum wage, overtime and record-keeping provisions at the restaurant.

NEW YORK — Enviro & Demo Masters Inc. and Gladiators Contracting Corp., along with the companies' owner Jover Naranjo and foreman Luperio Naranjo Sr., have been ordered to pay a total of $656,646 to 37 workers after failing to pay them the required prevailing wage rates and fringe benefits on a federally funded construction project in New York City. Due to the extent and willful nature of the violations, all parties have been ordered to be debarred from seeking and obtaining federal contracts for a three-year period.