March 23, 2022

Federal court orders 3 restaurants, owners to pay $1.45M in back wages, damages to 116 workers denied overtime wages

PITTSBURGH – Following litigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of the Solicitor, a federal court has entered a consent judgment against three restaurants – one in Pennsylvania and two in West Virginia – and their owners after investigators found they paid back-of-the-house employees off-the-books salaries for all hours worked and denied them overtime pay for hours worked over 40 in a workweek.

March 15, 2022

US Department of Labor will offer prevailing wage compliance seminars for federal contractors, contracting agencies, unions, workers

WASHINGTON The U.S. Department of Labor will offer online compliance seminars for contracting agencies, contractors, unions, workers and other stakeholders to provide information on the requirements governing payment of prevailing wages on federally funded construction and service contracts.

March 11, 2022

For the first time in 40 years, US Department of Labor proposes rulemaking for Davis-Bacon Act to reflect needs of today’s construction industry

WASHINGTON The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the publication of a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking as it considers updating the regulations that implement the Davis-Bacon Act and Davis-Bacon and Related Acts to reflect better the needs of workers in the construction industry and planned federal construction investments.

March 10, 2022

US Department of Labor offers new resources to help combat employer retaliation against workers who exercise their legal rights

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division today published and launched several resources to help combat retaliation by employers against employees for exercising their worker rights. These resources include the following:

March 8, 2022

Court orders home care agency to pay more than $4.5M in back wages, damages to 503 workers after US Department of Labor investigation, litigation

UPPER DARBY, PA – A federal court has ordered an Upper Darby home healthcare agency to pay $4,544,872 in back wages and liquidated damages after U.S. Department of Labor investigators found that the employer misclassified some workers as independent contractors, which denied 503 home health aides their rightfully earned overtime wages.

February 17, 2022

US Department of Labor investigation recovers $1.3M in back wages, finds Texas potato farm denied nearly 500 farmworkers full wages, overtime

DALHART, TX – Each year, hundreds of agricultural workers enter the U.S. with an H-2A visa and make the long trip toward the Texas Panhandle’s far northwest corner. In the small town of Dalhart at Larsen Farms – a sprawling potato farm operated by one of the nation’s largest growers – they work under an open sky, some spending long days in the hot sun harvesting the crop and repairing farm equipment while others keep warehouses operating.

February 16, 2022

US Department of Labor offers online compliance webinar for federal contractors, stakeholders, workers amid Bipartisan Infrastructure Law investments

WASHINGTON – The historic investment in our nation’s aging infrastructure made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law – signed by President Biden on Nov. 15, 2021 – will have a significant impact on those involved in federal construction contracts. 

February 8, 2022

US Department of Labor announces worker initiative to safeguard rights, ensure protections for workers in warehouse, logistics industries

WASHINGTON – The increased demand and the constraints on the global supply chain have combined to place enormous strain on the nation’s warehouse and logistics industries, and has prompted the U.S. Department of Labor to take heightened action to ensure that warehouse and logistics workers’ wages and workplace rights are protected.

February 8, 2022

El Departamento de Trabajo de los Estados Unidos anuncia una iniciativa de los trabajadores para salvaguardar los derechos, garantizar protecciones para los trabajadores en las industrias de almacén y logística

WASHINGTON- El aumento de la demanda de los consumidores y las restricciones relacionadas con la pandemia en la cadena de suministro global se han combinado para ejercer una enorme presión sobre la industria de almacenes y logística de la nación y han llevado al Departamento de Trabajo de los Estados Unidos a tomar medidas más estrictas para garantizar que los salarios y los derechos laborales de los trabajadores de almacén y logística estén protegidos.

January 31, 2022

Federal court orders Pennsylvania home care agency to pay more than $2.8M in back wages, damages to 491 workers; $250K in civil penalties for wage violations

ARDMORE, PA – A federal court in Pennsylvania has ordered an Ardmore employer who denied more than $1.4 million in wages to hundreds of home care workers in the Philadelphia area to pay its workers more than $2.8 million in back wages and liquidated damages.

January 27, 2022

Court orders Norfolk staffing agency to pay more than $7.2M in back wages, damages to 1,105 aides, nurses after federal investigation, litigation

NORFOLK, VA – A federal court in Virginia has entered a judgment ordering a Norfolk-based medical staffing agency, which intentionally violated federal laws and denied 1,105 certified nursing aides, licensed practical nurses and registered nurses their rightfully earned overtime wages, to pay more than $7.2 million in back wages and liquidated damages.

January 24, 2022

US Department of Labor commits to continuing the fight against human trafficking through collaboration, enforcement, outreach

WASHINGTON – As National Human Trafficking Prevention Month concludes, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division continues to support the updated U.S.

January 6, 2022

US Department of Labor, National Labor Relations Board, sign partnership agreement to enhance information sharing, enforcement, training, outreach

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor and the National Labor Relations Board announced today that the department’s Wage and Hour Division and the NLRB have signed a Memorandum of Understanding strengthening the agencies’ partnership and outlining procedures on information-sharing, joint investigations and enforcement activity, as well as training, education and community outreach.

December 17, 2021

US Department of Labor offers virtual seminar to help employers comply with the $15 per hour federal contractor worker minimum wage

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that its Wage and Hour Division will present virtual compliance seminars for contracting agencies, contractors, unions, workers and other stakeholders to provide information on Executive Order 14026, “Increasing the Minimum Wage for Federal Contractors.” The Federal Contract Minimum Wage Executive Order applies across the country and its territories and does the following:

November 23, 2021

US Department of Labor launches initiative to protect professional caregivers’ wages, rights; ensure industry employers comply with law

WASHINGTON – As the nation concludes National Home Care and Hospice Month, the U.S. Department of Labor’s work on behalf of the country’s professional caregivers continues with the launch of an ongoing education, outreach and enforcement initiative to ensure their employers pay them their rightful wages and honor all protections afforded them by law.

November 22, 2021

US Department of Labor reminds employers to avoid compliance issues by ensuring worker safety, proper pay practices this holiday season

WASHINGTON – With the National Retail Federation expecting retailers to hire more than 500,000 seasonal workers and employers hopeful for a busy holiday season, the U.S. Department of Labor reminds them not to overlook their worker’s rights to a safe and healthy workplace and to be paid all of their legally earned wages.

November 22, 2021

US Department of Labor announces final rule to increase minimum wage for workers on federal contracts beginning Jan. 30, 2022

WASHINGTON The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a final rule that implements Executive Order 14026 to increase the hourly minimum wage for employees on federal contracts beginning Jan. 30, 2022. President Biden signed the order on April 27, 2021.

November 16, 2021

US Department of Labor opens online dialogue with stakeholders to expand access among underrepresented communities to Registered Apprenticeships

WASHINGTON –The U.S. Department of Labor today launched an online dialogue with stakeholders to increase access to Registered Apprenticeships for job seekers in underrepresented communities.

Conversation and ideas shared will help develop and shape future Registered Apprenticeship programs and funding opportunities, and foster diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility.

November 2, 2021

Federal court finds Las Vegas company shortchanged employees, orders $1.4M in back wages, damages paid to 1,328 call center workers

LAS VEGAS A Las Vegas telemarketing enterprise that shortchanged more than 1,328 call center workers has been ordered to pay more than $1.4 million in back wages and liquidated damages by a federal court in San Francisco. The judgement follows a U.S. Department of Labor investigation that found Wellfleet Communications and its owners illegally misclassified employees as independent contractors, forcing them to unlawfully sign away their federal rights and paying them only when they made sales.