WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia issued the following statement regarding Martin Luther King Jr. Day:

WASHINTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA) and Wage and Hour Division (WHD) today announced a new interpretation of their regulations and accompanying guidance in ongoing efforts to protect American jobs and ensure employers pay temporary foreign workers admitted under the H-1B visa program as the law requires.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of $40 million through the Strengthening Community College Training Grants program to build the capacity of community colleges to meet labor market demand for a skilled workforce.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced its intent to award up to $10,058,000 million in grant funding to address labor violations in illegal, unregulated and unregistered fishing in the Latin American and Caribbean regions.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced its intent to award up to $11,711,500  million in grant funding for a regional project to enhance labor compliance in key export sectors in the Republic of Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and one other African trade partner country.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced its intent to award up to $8 million in grant funding to address labor violations in illegal, unregulated and unregistered fishing in the Latin American and Caribbean regions.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced its intent to award up to $10 million in grant funding for a regional project to enhance labor compliance in key export sectors in the Republic of Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and one other African trade partner country.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of a contract to Eckerd Youth Alternatives Inc. for operations of the Potomac Job Corps Center in southwest Washington, D.C. The award is a first-of-its-kind total set-aside as part of a pilot program to enhance Job Corps participation by non-profit entities. 

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced three opinion letters that address compliance issues related to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). An opinion letter is an official, written opinion by the Department’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) on how a particular law applies in specific circumstances presented by the person or entity that requested the letter.

The opinion letters issued today are:

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a final rule that modernizes the H-2A Temporary Agricultural Labor Certification Program.  

Furthering the Trump Administration’s agenda to help American farmers, the Department’s Employment and Training Administration, and Wage and Hour Division are issuing this final rule in response to the extensive public comments received from farmers, farmworkers, as well as advocates and associations for both groups from across the country.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced approximately $40 million in H-1B Rural Healthcare Grant Program funds awarded to partnerships of public and private entities to address rural healthcare workforce shortages in communities across the country.

DALLAS, TX – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) has launched an outreach and enforcement initiative to improve compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) among businesses in the child care industry in its Southwest region.

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia issued the following statement regarding unemployment insurance claims:

“Unemployment claims are increasing due to shutdowns and other responses to rising coronavirus cases, and likely due in part to enhanced unemployment benefits. California and New York continue to exhibit particularly high unemployment rates, with the nation’s two highest rates of continuing claims. 

In the week ending January 9, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 965,000, an increase of 181,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised down by 3,000 from 787,000 to 784,000. The 4-week moving average was 834,250, an increase of 18,250 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised down by 2,750 from 818,750 to 816,000.

ARLINGTON, VA – In 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) reports there were 29 mining fatalities, making it the sixth consecutive year that mining fatalities were below 30. Among those fatalities, five occurred in coal mines, a historic low.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, FL – After an investigation, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) assessed S&S Apiaries LLC – a New Smyrna, Florida-based beekeeper – a $6,357 civil money penalty and found the employer owed $4,130 in back wages to three employees for violating the labor provisions of the H-2A guest worker visa program.

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Classy Beauty Supply Inc. – based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida – will pay $53,841 in back wages to 10 employees to resolve minimum wage and overtime violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) today announced guidance in its ongoing efforts to help plan fiduciaries meet their obligations under Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to locate and distribute retirement benefits to missing or nonresponsive participants.

Today’s guidance comes in three forms:

ALLENTOWN, PA – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) elevated its longstanding alliance with the Lehigh Valley Safety Committee (LVSC), a consortium of organizations in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, to “ambassador” status at a virtual signing ceremony today.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of a $2 million cooperative agreement to the International Labor Organization to implement a project to improve the government’s enforcement and promotion of labor laws and standards that are consistent with international labor standards, in one or more specific economic sectors in Armenia.