MATTESON, IL – With holiday shopping nearing its peak, federal workplace safety inspectors have again found Dollar Tree Stores Inc. – one of the nation’s largest discount retailers – exposing workers in Matteson to the risks of unsafely stored and stacked boxes of merchandise and blocked electrical panels.  

In the week ending November 26, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 225,000, a decrease of 16,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 240,000 to 241,000. The 4-week moving average was 228,750, an increase of 1,750 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 250 from 226,750 to 227,000.

CHARLESTON, WV – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division today announced an extension of the deadline for submitting prevailing wage survey by West Virginia’s highway construction industry employers to Dec. 18, 2022.

AVONDALE, PA – A federal court has approved a consent judgment ordering a Southeast Pennsylvania restaurant to pay a total of $193,817 to 68 employees after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation found the employer denied all of the wages owed them by law.

MIDDLEFIELD, OH – Twice in six days in June 2022, federal safety inspectors observed a Middlefield roofing contractor exposing workers to deadly fall hazards at two separate job sites in Tallmadge and Columbia Station, continuing a pattern of disregard for workplace safety dating back to 2019.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the launch of its second annual Chief Evaluation Office Summer Fellowship, and welcomes applications from emerging researchers to work as fellows in 2023.

WASHINGTON – To help remove academic and training barriers faced by young people, the U.S. Department of Labor today announced a $90 million funding opportunity in YouthBuild Program grants to support pre-apprenticeships in high-demand industries including construction, healthcare, information technology and hospitality.

Participants: U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration

El Paso Community College

BOISE, ID – Un tribunal federal y la Oficina de Jueces de Derecho Administrativo del Departamento de Trabajo de EE.UU. ordenaron a una cantera de piedra de Oakley pagar $983,725 en salarios atrasados ​​y compensación por daños luego que investigadores del departamento encontraran que el empleador violó múltiples leyes laborales federales, negando a 60 trabajadores sus salarios legítimamente ganados.

BOISE, ID – A federal court and the department’s Office of Administrative Law Judges have ordered an Oakley stone quarry to pay $983,725 in back wages and liquidated damages after U.S. Department of Labor investigators found that the employer violated multiple federal labor laws, which denied 60 workers their rightfully earned wages.

Employers:                Fa Fa 318 LLC and Sanxi Inc., operators of Japan House restaurants

Investigation sites:   

1989 E. Main St., Suite A, Spartanburg, SC 29307

1703 John B. White Sr. Blvd., Suite C, Spartanburg, SC 29301

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of a $12 million cooperative agreement to the American Center for International Labor Solidarity to strengthen democratic, independent workers’ organizations in Brazil, Colombia and Peru.

APPLETON, WI – An Appleton contractor with a long history of exposing employees to dangerous fall hazards now faces $349,371 in additional penalties after U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspectors observed roofing workers at heights greater than 6 feet at risk of serious or fatal injuries at two Appleton-area jobsites in May and June 2022.

POOLER, GA – Following a workplace safety inspection, federal investigators determined a Pooler location of a national discount retailer stacked and stored merchandise unsafely, exposing workers to struck-by hazards from falling boxes and preventing them from exiting the store quickly in an emergency.

Employer:   Martinez Lawn & Irrigation Services Corp.

Investigation site:    320 Enterprise St., Ocoee, FL 34761

Employers:                  

Point Pleasant Associates Inc., Owner Bidiawatie Singh and company officer Surjeet Singh                 

In the week ending November 19, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 240,000, an increase of 17,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 222,000 to 223,000. The 4-week moving average was 226,750, an increase of 5,500 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 250 from 221,000 to 221,250.

WASHINGTON – Deputy Undersecretary of Labor for International Affairs Thea Lee visited Vietnam from Nov. 15 through 17, 2022, to resume a dialogue on labor issues that began in 2002.

COLUMBUS, OH – When federal workplace safety inspectors opened an investigation at a Dollar General store in Columbus, they discovered violations that were all-too-familiar and the kind that has led to more than $15 million in proposed penalties since 2017 for one of the nation’s largest discount retailers.

BROADVIEW, IL ‒ Federal safety investigators found a Schaumburg excavating contractor has again failed to follow federally mandated safety measures to protect workers from potentially deadly trenches cave-ins.

Trench collapses are among the construction industry’s most lethal hazards. In the first six months of 2022, OSHA reports 22 workers suffered fatal injuries in trenching and excavation work.