NAPLES, FL – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cited Douglas N. Higgins Inc., a South Florida utility company, after an employee suffered fatal injuries at a Naples Park worksite. The company faces $162,596 in proposed penalties, the maximum allowed.

AUBURN, NE – An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) found that El Portal Mexican Restaurant locations in Auburn, Nebraska, and Nebraska City, Nebraska, violated the minimum wage, overtime, recordkeeping, and child labor provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). El Portal Mexican Restaurant will pay 23 employees $203,884 in back wages to resolve the violations.

WHD investigators found the restaurants’ FLSA violations included:

KANSAS CITY, MO – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and Brandenburg Industrial Service Company have signed a strategic partnership to promote worker safety and health during the demolition of the former Bannister Federal Complex in Kansas City.

ORLANDO, FL – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) ordered Orlando-based SIMCOM Training Centers to reinstate a flight instructor who was terminated after he raised concerns about potential violations of Federal Aviation Administration regulations.

NEW HAVEN, CT – Following an investigation by its Wage and Hour Division (WHD), the U.S. Department of Labor has filed a federal lawsuit to recover unpaid overtime wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages for 51 current and former employees of Care at Home LLC of New London, Connecticut. Filed in the U.S.

MILWAUKEE, WI – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cited C & D Technologies Inc. for exposing employees to lead and failing to implement an effective lead management program. The Milwaukee battery manufacturer faces proposed penalties of $147,822 for two repeated and six serious violations.

WINDSOR, CO – As a result of a U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division (WHD) investigation, Coloscapes Concrete Inc. has paid $21,750 in back wages and $31,496 in civil money penalties to settle H-2B non-immigrant visa program violations, as well as $6,454 to resolve overtime and recordkeeping violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

CENTRAL VALLEY, NY – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), McDonalds’ franchisee S&P Enterprises Inc. has paid $8,829 in penalties to resolve child labor violations in 11 northern New Jersey locations. 

BISMARCK, ND – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and several safety stakeholder organizations recently signed an alliance with North Dakota employers and employees to reduce exposure to trenching and excavation-related hazards.

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the U.S. Department of Labor announced $85 million in grants to support and expand YouthBuild programs across the country. YouthBuild, a pre-apprenticeship model, provides at-risk youth ages 16-24 with education and occupational skill development to obtain employment in construction and other in-demand industries.

WASHINGTON, DC –The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) today issued a two-year extension of its enforcement moratorium relating to the affirmative obligations of TRICARE providers. This moratorium has been in effect for four years, and will now expire on May 7, 2021; it will also now apply to Veterans Affairs Health Benefits Program providers.

DELRAY BEACH, FL – The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida has sentenced the owners of Angel’s Recovery - a Delray Beach substance abuse recovery residence - to prison and ordered them to pay $4,045,364 in restitution after a federal investigation found that they had defrauded healthcare benefit programs. The court sentenced Tovah Jasperson and her father, Alan Martin Bostom, to 78 months and 30 months in prison, respectively, and three years of supervised release; and ordered they be jointly responsible for restitution.

PHOENIX, AZ – Following a U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division (WHD) investigation, the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona has ordered Synergy Commercial Service LLC and owner Eduardo Bernal to pay $351,869 in back wages and liquidated damages to 136 employees for minimum wage and overtime violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The court also ordered the Gilbert-based janitorial company to pay $33,000 in civil money penalties.

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – After a U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division (WHD) investigation, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma has ordered Meers Store & Restaurant Inc. and owner Margaret Maranto to pay $335,687 in back wages and liquidated damages to 84 employees for willful violations of the minimum wage and overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

In the week ending May 12, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 222,000, an increase of 11,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 211,000. The 4-week moving average was 213,250, a decrease of 2,750 from the previous week's unrevised average of 216,000. This is the lowest level for this average since December 13, 1969 when it was 210,750.

Read the full release.

BOSTON, MA – Following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Onyx Marble & Granite LLC and owners Jose Moraes and Poliana Moraes will pay a total of $144,199 in back wages and liquidated damages to 20 employees to resolve violations of the overtime and recordkeeping requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

SAN DIEGO, CA – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) will offer a comprehensive compliance seminar for federal contractors, unions, and employees to provide information on the rules governing federal prevailing wage requirements, wage rules for non-displacement of qualified workers, establishing a minimum wage for contractors, and establishing paid sick leave for federal contractors.

SACRAMENTO, CA – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), residential care home operator of two Sacramento area facilities Golden Berry Inc. will pay $46,295 to six employees to resolve minimum wage and overtime violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

BIRMINGHAM, AL – Following a civil investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama entered a consent judgment between the U.S. Department of Labor and Brandi Box Stephens, a former benefits administrator for the Iron Workers Local Union No. 92 Welfare Plan and the Iron Workers Local Union No.

GRATZ, PA - The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has certified MI Windows and Doors’ manufacturing facility in Gratz, Pennsylvania, as a Star worksite, OSHA’s highest level of recognition for workplace safety and health excellence.