WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh issued the following statement on the May 2021 Employment Situation Report:

KEY WEST, FL – Business owners must understand their legal responsibilities to pay overtime when it comes to their workers, as well as any workers employed through staffing companies, to avoid costly violations, a lesson learned by the operators of three Key West restaurants. 

In the week ending May 29, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 385,000, a decrease of 20,000 from the previous week's revised level. This is the lowest level for initial claims since March 14, 2020 when it was 256,000. The previous week's level was revised down by 1,000 from 406,000 to 405,000. The 4-week moving average was 428,000, a decrease of 30,500 from the previous week's revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since March 14, 2020 when it was 225,500. The previous week's average was revised down by 250 from 458,750 to 458,500.

OLYPHANT, PA – A federal court has entered a consent judgment resolving a U.S. Department of Labor lawsuit filed after an investigation found that an Olyphant home healthcare agency failed to pay 98 nurses overtime wages they legally earned – including payment for ancillary work and work-related travel – in violation of federal law.

BOISE, ID – The U.S. Department of Labor is asking businesses in Idaho’s building and heavy construction industries to participate in a survey to help its Wage and Hour Division establish prevailing wage rates, as required under the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts.

Nahunta, GA – What could have been a catastrophic and life-changing incident for a teenage worker instead resulted in a painful injury, a frightening lesson and an opportunity for a Nahunta Piggly Wiggly supermarket franchisee to protect all of its workers better.

BRIDGEPORT, CT – Two workers at a West Haven veterans’ healthcare facility suffered fatal injuries caused by hot steam after a metal fixture on a main steam line blew off. The workers had just finished making repairs to the steam pipe within the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Connecticut Healthcare System West Haven campus in November 2020.

NEW YORK – The U.S. Department of Labor is suing a Staten Island community health center and its CEO after they suspended and later fired an employee who reported coronavirus-related health and safety hazards, including possibly exposing staff to the virus and lack of proper social distancing protocols.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor announced today the award of more than $52 million in grants to help homeless veterans return to meaningful employment and address the complex problems facing homeless veterans.

FORT MYERS, FL – The U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration has reached a settlement with a Fort Myers behavioral healthcare and residential treatment facility to prevent future employee injuries after a series of violent incidents in the spring and fall of 2020.

NEW YORK – A Long Island construction contractor who often directed laborers and masons to work 10-hour days, five or six days a week, knew the Fair Labor Standards Act required employees to receive overtime pay when they worked more than 40 hours per week, but disregarded the law.

PEARL, MS –  Security industry workers too often find themselves misclassified by their employers as independent contractors instead of employees, which can shortchange workers’ wages and benefits and expose employers to liability for back wage payments.

WASHINGTON, DC – The Biden-Harris administration today submitted to Congress the President’s Budget for Fiscal Year 2022. As the administration continues to make progress defeating the pandemic and getting our economy back on track, the budget makes historic investments that will help the country build back better and lay the foundation for shared growth and prosperity for decades to come.

GAINESVILLE, FL – Roofing workers face hard work in hot weather, the risks of working at dangerous heights and, for 30 employees of a Gainesville contractor, concerns about not getting paid all of the wages they legally earned.

LAS VEGAS – A Las Vegas air conditioning and heating company has learned trying to violate federal labor laws secretly is both unwise and costly, after a U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation.

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh has appointed 15 individuals to serve as members on the Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health, which provides advice and assistance to the assistant secretary on occupational safety and health in construction standards.

DURHAM, NC – Federal wage laws ensure that government contractors fulfill their legal obligations, among them paying required wage rates and fringe benefits to workers employed with federal funds to provide services to the government. When contractors violate these laws, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division acts.

TAMPA, FL – Restaurant workers who prepare and serve sushi take great care to provide their customers a great experience. A recent investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor found the operator of one Tampa sushi restaurant less than careful in how it paid wages to 12 kitchen workers and a manager.

In the week ending May 22, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 406,000, a decrease of 38,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 444,000. This is the lowest level for initial claims since March 14, 2020 when it was 256,000. The 4-week moving average was 458,750, a decrease of 46,000 from the previous week's unrevised average of 504,750. This is the lowest level for this average since March 14, 2020 when it was 225,500.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the selection of five teams and individuals to analyze how federal labor policies, protections and programs reach historically underserved communities.