KIELER, WI – One of the nation’s largest food safety sanitation services providers has paid $1.5 million in civil money penalties after the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found the company employed at least 102 children – from 13 to 17 years of age – in hazardous occupations and had them working overnight shifts at 13 meat processing facilities in eight states.

Employer:                                          BAE Systems Inc., operating as Ordnance Systems Inc.

ALIQUIPPA, PA – As the nation today recognizes the selfless and dedicated work of professional caregivers on National Caregivers Day, the U.S. Department of Labor announced that a federal court has entered a default judgment against an Aliquippa home health provider and its owner, after an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division found the employer denied 23 home health aides overtime wages.

ANCHORAGE, AK – Working in the Alaskan fishing industry – an occupation already regarded as one of the nation’s most dangerous – employees aboard the F/V Pacific Producer faced dangers purely of their employer’s making, an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor and U.S. Coast Guard has found.

Employer:   Juarez M&M Construction Inc., operating as Juarez Construction

Investigation site:  1859 Constitution Drive, Navarre, FL 32566

Employer:     Ark Foods Group Inc., operating as Ark Foods

Investigation sites:  855 County Road, Immokalee, FL 34142

                                  1050 Canaan Road, Roebuck, SC 29376

BARBERTON, OH ‒ In less than two years, three workers at a leading tool manufacturer in Barberton suffered injuries from unguarded machinery.

The latest injury occurred on Oct. 26, 2022, when a worker suffered a left thumb amputation while hand-feeding parts into a drill press using air-activated clamps. The worker had been on the job for just three months. In December 2020 and June 2022, two other workers performing similar tasks suffered laceration injuries.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor announced that its Occupational Safety and Health Administration is inviting the public and workplace safety stakeholders to share their comments on how the agency can best honor companies who make exceptional commitments to workplace safety and health, and encourage others to follow.

ATLANTA – An administrative law judge has entered a consent order following a U.S. Department of Labor investigation that determined a wholesale plant nursery in Miami gave foreign visa workers preferential treatment over U.S. workers, and housed workers in unsafe and unhealthy conditions in Greensboro, Georgia.

In the week ending February 11, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 194,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised down by 1,000 from 196,000 to 195,000. The 4-week moving average was 189,500, an increase of 500 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised down by 250 from 189,250 to 189,000.

Employer:                               Tri-City Electrical Contractors Inc.

Investigation sites:                430 West Drive, Altamonte Springs, FL, 32714 (Headquarters)

WASHINGTON – A federal administrative law judge has ordered the operator of mining complexes in southern West Virginia and eastern Kentucky to pay civil penalties totaling $349,444 to resolve 533 citations for mine safety and health violations U.S. Department of Labor inspectors identified at 14 mines.

AVON, OH – Despite being warned in September 2021 that the hours worked by 14- and 15-year-old employees at its Slim Chickens’ franchise in Streetsboro violated federal law, the owner continued the illegal practices for several months at a second location in Avon, the U.S. Department of Labor has found.

Employers:                            Gentle Shepherd Care LLC

                                                8604 Cliff Cameron Drive, Suite 144

LANCASTER, KY – Una planta procesadora de carne de Lancaster permitió a ocho empleados menores de edad trabajar fuera de las horas permitidas por el gobierno federal y realizar trabajos peligrosos, según descubrió una investigación federal.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced that Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh has made several appointments and changes to the staffing of the appeals boards that review a variety of workplace and worker rights claims. The actions will increase efficiency, ensure workplace justice and improve the quality of services provided to the nation’s workers and families.

LANCASTER, KY – A Lancaster meat processing plant allowed eight minor-aged employees to work outside of federally allowed hours and engage in hazardous work, a federal investigation has found.

WAUSEON, OH – The operator of Wauseon restaurant forced servers – who worked an average of 60 hours a week – to cash paychecks and then pay their wages back to him in cash, allowing the workers to keep just the tips they earned plus $20 in each two-week pay period, a U.S. Department of Labor investigation has found.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced an award of $2.5 million to support an initiative to assess and expand the successful Fair Food Program model with a pilot project to promote human and labor rights focused on cut flower farms in Chile, Mexico and South Africa.