WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh announced the joint winners of the 2021 Iqbal Masih Award for the Elimination of Child Labor during a virtual ceremony.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of nearly $20 million in grants to four national out-of-school time organizations to expand local work readiness programs and support workforce development activities among these organizations’ local affiliates. Out-of-School Time organizations operate supervised programs for youth when school is not in session.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor has announced the award of $89 million in grants in 31 states and Puerto Rico to help youth ages 16-24 who are neither enrolled in school nor participating in the labor market to obtain employment in construction and other in-demand industries.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has announced it will issue an emergency temporary standard to protect healthcare workers from contracting coronavirus. The standard focuses on healthcare workers most likely to have contact with someone infected with the virus.

EATONTOWN, NJ – An Eatontown manufacturer failed to protect employees adequately from workplace exposure to coronavirus, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration determined, after an investigation into the deaths of two workers and the hospitalization of two others who contracted the coronavirus in the fall of 2020.

CAMPBELLSVILLE, KY – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division enforces the labor provisions of the federal H-2A temporary agricultural workers program to prevent employers from exploiting temporary, nonimmigrant workers hired for seasonal agricultural work and from gaining an unfair competitive advantage over law-abiding employers.

In the week ending June 5, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 376,000, a decrease of 9,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 385,000. This is the lowest level for initial claims since March 14, 2020 when it was 256,000. The 4-week moving average was 402,500, a decrease of 25,500 from the previous week's unrevised average of 428,000. This is the lowest level for this average since March 14, 2020 when it was 225,500.

LAS VEGAS – A Las Vegas hospital that required workers to complete necessary paperwork without pay after their daily shifts ended also manipulated employee time cards to avoid paying overtime, a federal investigation has found.

DENVER – As work at construction project sites increases in Colorado’s Front Range, more workers may find themselves exposed to falls and trenching and excavation hazards. Over the last two years, at least six workers have suffered fatal falls, and nearly a dozen excavation collapses and trenching incidents have led to the deaths of three workers in Colorado.

CAMBRIA, WI – After a worker who was clearing corn debris from an unsafe silo failed to arrive for a regularly scheduled meeting, employees called 911 when they could not find him at the silo, nor reach him by phone. It took emergency services nine hours to recover the body of the 52-year-old manager, found engulfed in the silo operated by Didion Milling Inc. in Cambria.

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Obrascón Huarte Lain North America are collaborating to promote worker safety and health at the South Corridor Rapid Transit project, a 20-mile stretch of existing busway.

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh issued the following statement on the May 2021 Employment Situation Report:

KEY WEST, FL – Business owners must understand their legal responsibilities to pay overtime when it comes to their workers, as well as any workers employed through staffing companies, to avoid costly violations, a lesson learned by the operators of three Key West restaurants. 

In the week ending May 29, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 385,000, a decrease of 20,000 from the previous week's revised level. This is the lowest level for initial claims since March 14, 2020 when it was 256,000. The previous week's level was revised down by 1,000 from 406,000 to 405,000. The 4-week moving average was 428,000, a decrease of 30,500 from the previous week's revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since March 14, 2020 when it was 225,500. The previous week's average was revised down by 250 from 458,750 to 458,500.

OLYPHANT, PA – A federal court has entered a consent judgment resolving a U.S. Department of Labor lawsuit filed after an investigation found that an Olyphant home healthcare agency failed to pay 98 nurses overtime wages they legally earned – including payment for ancillary work and work-related travel – in violation of federal law.

BOISE, ID – The U.S. Department of Labor is asking businesses in Idaho’s building and heavy construction industries to participate in a survey to help its Wage and Hour Division establish prevailing wage rates, as required under the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts.

Nahunta, GA – What could have been a catastrophic and life-changing incident for a teenage worker instead resulted in a painful injury, a frightening lesson and an opportunity for a Nahunta Piggly Wiggly supermarket franchisee to protect all of its workers better.

BRIDGEPORT, CT – Two workers at a West Haven veterans’ healthcare facility suffered fatal injuries caused by hot steam after a metal fixture on a main steam line blew off. The workers had just finished making repairs to the steam pipe within the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Connecticut Healthcare System West Haven campus in November 2020.

NEW YORK – The U.S. Department of Labor is suing a Staten Island community health center and its CEO after they suspended and later fired an employee who reported coronavirus-related health and safety hazards, including possibly exposing staff to the virus and lack of proper social distancing protocols.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor announced today the award of more than $52 million in grants to help homeless veterans return to meaningful employment and address the complex problems facing homeless veterans.