NEWARK, DE - The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and Skanska USA Building Inc. have established a strategic partnership to promote workplace safety during the expansion of the Christiana Care Health System Women's and Infant Tower Renovation Project in Newark, Delaware.

NAPLES, FL – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Stettinius Construction Inc. for exposing employees to safety hazards after a worker suffered a fatal fall at a worksite in Naples, Florida.

SAN ANGELO, TX – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited 7 S Packing LLC – operating as Texas Packing Company in San Angelo, Texas – for exposing workers to releases of hazardous chemicals. The company faces $615,640 in penalties.

CARROLLTON, GA – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Tushar and Varsha Patel – the owners of an enterprise operating nine gas stations and convenience stores in Carrollton and Bowden, Georgia – will pay $63,398 in wages to six employees for violating overtime and recordkeeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

SPRINGFIELD, MO – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited DDG Construction Services Inc. – based in Charlotte, North Carolina – for failing to provide workers with fall protection at a commercial building site in Springfield, Missouri. The company faces proposed penalties of $98,693.

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta today issued the following statement regarding the April 2019 Employment Situation report:

“Today’s jobs report announced a 3.6% unemployment rate, the lowest unemployment rate since 1969. 

“America’s economy added 263,000 jobs in April and a net 16,000 additional upward adjustment in February and March. This brings the total to 5.4 million jobs added since January 2017.  

PORTLAND, OR – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), West Coast Reforestation Inc. – based in Salem, Oregon – will pay $73,383 to 26 employees for violating overtime and recordkeeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The employer will also pay $7,239 in civil penalties for violations of the FLSA’s child labor requirements.

FREMONT, OH – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Cincinnati office of the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), the Department of Labor has obtained a consent order and judgment requiring the fiduciaries of Fremont, Ohio-based Techniform Industries Inc. 401(k) Plan to restore $23,716 to the plan and pay a penalty of $4,743 for violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

CINCINNATI, OH – The U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has ordered Casey Bortles – a roofing contractor based in Holland, Ohio – to immediately comply with the final orders resulting from uncontested citations. The court also ordered Bortles to provide proof within 10 days that he has abated cited safety hazards on his job sites, and pay $341,972 in unpaid penalties proposed by the U.S.

BRAINTREE, MA – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Massachusetts Division of Occupational Safety (DOS), YouthBuild Boston, Madison Park Technical Vocational High School, and New England Carpenters Training Fund are partnering to promote the 2019 National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction. The Stand-Down event will be held at the site of an affordable housing construction project in Hyde Park, Massachusetts.

BRAINTREE, MA – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and Consigli Construction are partnering to promote the 2019 National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction. The Stand-Down event will be held at 9:00 a.m. on Monday, May 6, 2019, at Blue Hills Regional High School construction renovation and upgrade project, 800 Randolph Street, in Canton, Massachusetts.

BATON ROUGE, LA – After investigations by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), the owners and operators of a family of 11 restaurants with common ownership in Louisiana have paid $230,877 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages to 141 employees for violating the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) minimum wage, overtime, and recordkeeping requirements.

In the week ending April 27, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 230,000, unchanged from the previous week's unrevised level of 230,000. The 4-week moving average was 212,500, an increase of 6,500 from the previous week's unrevised average of 206,000.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a new Job Corps demonstration project to provide at-risk youth with job skills instruction, educational opportunities, and individualized employment counseling through the establishment of the Job Corps Scholars Program. 

FORT WORTH, TX – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Molding Acquisition Corp. - operating as Rotoplas - for failing to protect employees from serious safety hazards at its location in Fort Worth, Texas. The company faces $281,108 in fines.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced Cheryl Marie Stanton was sworn-in as the Administrator of the Department's Wage and Hour Division.

"I welcome and congratulate Cheryl Stanton as she officially assumes the position of Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division," said U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta. "Cheryl brings with her a distinguished career including prior public service as Executive Director of the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce."

WASHINGTON, DC - The U.S. Department of Labor today released a policy statement regarding Association Health Plans (AHPs). The Department disagrees with the district court's ruling in The State of New York v. United States Department of Labor. The U.S. Department of Justice filed an appeal on April 26, 2019. 

MANCHESTER, NH – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD), The Spot LLC – owner of two Burlington, Vermont, restaurants – has paid $55,546 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages to 91 current and former employees to resolve overtime violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The employer also paid $2,360 in penalties for child labor violations.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that it has issued a new opinion letter that addresses 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 individual person or entity that requested the letter.

The opinion letter issued today is:

LONGWOOD, FL – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Competitive Edge Group Inc. – operating as Competitive Edge Landscaping and based in Longwood, Florida – will pay $44,280 in back wages to 75 employees for violating the overtime and recordkeeping requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).