ANNAPOLIS, Md. — McDonald's franchise operators Gold Hat Inc. and Gold Hat II Inc., which have the same owner and are based in Annapolis, have agreed to pay $254,224 in back wages and liquidated damages to 138 employees following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division, which determined that violations of the minimum wage, overtime and child labor provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act occurred at nine of the operators' restaurant locations throughout Maryland.

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — Case Development LLC, the general building contractor of an apartment complex in Norman, has been cited by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration for serious and repeat violations and a proposed fine of $90,600 following a November 2013 inspection. OSHA found the company failed to protect workers from dangerous falls and other serious hazards.

TOTOWA, N.J. — Following two workplace incidents leaving one machine operator's hand crushed and another with a partial hand amputation, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Precision Custom Coatings LLC for one willful, one repeat and 12 serious safety violations, including failure to provide required machine guarding, at the company's fabric manufacturing facility in Totowa.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A federal judge has ordered Darryl Howes and his business, Darryl Howes Farms, located in Copemish, to stop misclassifying his migrant workers as independent contractors, to comply with the record-keeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act and housing standards of the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act, and to cease interfering with U.S. Department of Labor investigations.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez today issued the following statement regarding the Senate's passage of legislation to reauthorize emergency unemployment benefits for five months:

"Today, the U.S. Senate voted to provide relief to the more than 2.2 million Americans who have struggled to make ends meet since emergency unemployment benefits expired more than 90 days ago.

WASHINGTON — Too few of America's students are meaningfully engaged in their academic experience while in high school, and many high school graduates lack exposure to learning that links their studies in school to future college and career pathways — especially in the critically important fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Education, today launched the Registered Apprenticeship — College Consortium, a new effort that will allow graduates of Registered Apprenticeship programs to turn their years of rigorous on-the-job and classroom training into college credits toward an associate or bachelor degree.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez issued the following statement about the March 2014 Employment Situation report released today:

"Today's report tells the story of a solid and steady economic recovery delivering more opportunity for more people. We saw 192,000 new jobs in the month of March, and the private sector has now created 8.9 million jobs over the last 49 consecutive months of employment growth. The unemployment rate held steady at 6.7 percent and is down from 7.5 percent a year ago.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The U.S. Department of Labor will host two town hall meetings on Tuesday, April 8, and Wednesday, April 9, in Albuquerque to provide the public with information about the medical benefits available under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act. The EEOICPA provides compensation and medical benefits to employees who became ill as a result of working in the nuclear weapons industry.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration today issued a Program Information Bulletin reminding the mining community of the process for submitting a corrective action program for MSHA approval and the tools MSHA makes available to assist mine operators in monitoring compliance.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez and Mexican Secretary of Labor and Social Welfare Jesús Alfonso Navarrete Prida today signed a joint ministerial declaration to carry out consultations under the provisions of the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation, the labor side agreement to the North American Free Trade Agreement, to help inform Mexican workers about their labor rights under U.S. laws.

Date of Action: March 28, 2014

Type of Action: Complaint

Names of Defendant: Heatech Inc. and Michael Fitzmeyer, in their capacity as fiduciaries of the Heatech Inc. Retirement Plan

ATLANTA — The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration is partnering with construction contractors, the Federal Highway Administration, the state of Georgia and local government organizations to sponsor a one-hour safety stand-down at construction sites around Georgia during National Highway Work Zone Awareness Week from April 7-11.

ALBANY, N.Y. — The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has found that workers at Salko Kitchens Inc. were exposed to fire and explosion hazards and a potential occupational carcinogen due to deficient required safeguards. Proposed fines total $51,800.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Constructora Santiago II Corp., a federal construction contractor in San Juan, Puerto Rico, will make a lump sum payment of $40,000 to three female carpenters who were sexually harassed, retaliated against and denied regular and overtime work hours comparable to those of their male counterparts. The settlement follows an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs.

WASHINGTON — Olivet Management LLC, a real estate development and management company that owns the former Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center in the Wingdale section of Dover Plains, N.Y., faces a total of $2,359,000 in proposed fines from the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico —— La Constructora Santiago II Corp., un contratista de la construcción a nivel federal de San Juan, pagará un total de $40.000 a tres carpinteras que fueron acosadas sexualmente, sufrieron represalias y a quienes se les negó un horario laboral regular y horas extra a diferencia de sus compañeros masculinos. El acuerdo llegó después de una investigación por parte de la Office of Federal Compliance Programs [Oficina de Programas de Cumplimiento del Contratos Federales] del Departamento de Trabajo de los EE.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the availability of approximately $1.8 million in grants through the Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations program, an initiative designed to recruit, train and retain women in high-skill occupations, such as advanced manufacturing, transportation, energy, construction and information technology.

Date of Action: March 25, 2014

Type of Action: Complaint

Names of Defendants: Cargill Heating & Air Conditioning Co. Inc., Michael Earl Galstad, and Cargill Heating & Air Conditioning Co. Inc. Savings Plan in La Crosse, Wis.

WASHINGTON — The Occupational Safety and Health Administration today announced that it would be issuing a final rule to improve workplace safety and health for workers performing electric power generation, transmission and distribution work.