WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) today announced guidance in its ongoing efforts to help plan fiduciaries meet their obligations under Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to locate and distribute retirement benefits to missing or nonresponsive participants.

Today’s guidance comes in three forms:

ALLENTOWN, PA – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) elevated its longstanding alliance with the Lehigh Valley Safety Committee (LVSC), a consortium of organizations in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, to “ambassador” status at a virtual signing ceremony today.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of a $2 million cooperative agreement to the International Labor Organization to implement a project to improve the government’s enforcement and promotion of labor laws and standards that are consistent with international labor standards, in one or more specific economic sectors in Armenia.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of a $5 million cooperative agreement to Partners of the Americas to implement a project to improve compliance with labor laws in the port sector of Colombia.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of a $3 million cooperative agreement to the International Labor Organization to implement a project to improve compliance with international labor standards and acceptable conditions of work in the Republic of Kenya. 

The project will engage civil society organizations, including workers’ organizations, government, and employers to achieve these improvements in two key export sectors.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a Final Rule to help protect the wages and job opportunities of American workers by reforming the wage methodology it uses to set prevailing wage rates to prevent potential abuses of its Permanent Employment Certification, H-1B, H-1B1 and E-3 Visa foreign worker programs.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a Final Rule to help protect the wages and job opportunities of American workers by reforming the wage methodology it uses to set prevailing wage rates to prevent potential abuses of its Permanent Employment Certification, H-1B, H-1B1 and E-3 Visa foreign worker programs.

WASHINGTON, DC – Last week, the U.S. Department of Labor took a range of actions to aid American workers and employers as our nation combats the coronavirus pandemic.

Reopening America’s Economy:

BETHESDA, MD – The U.S. Department of Labor and Lockheed Martin Corp.’s RMS Engineering & Technology Unit have entered into an Early Resolution Conciliation Agreement to resolve allegations of hiring discrimination found by the Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP). While not admitting liability in the investigation, Lockheed Martin Corp.

NEW ORLEANS, LA – After an investigation by the U.S.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced two opinion letters that address compliance issues related to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). An opinion letter is an official, written opinion by the Department’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) on how a particular law applies in specific circumstances presented by the person or entity that requested the letter.

The opinion letters issued today are:

WASHINGTON, DC – Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic through Dec. 31, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued citations arising from 300 inspections for violations relating to coronavirus, resulting in proposed penalties totaling $3,930,381.

OSHA inspections have resulted in the agency citing employers for violations, including failures to:

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia issued the following statement regarding the December 2020 Employment Situation Report:

“Today’s report shows that the economy generally continues to recover, but that employment in certain sectors and States remains challenged. 

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today awarded $2,366,077 in grant funding to the Washington Employment Security Department to improve and promote its Short-Time Compensation (STC) program, known as the “Shared Work Program.” Employers can use short-time compensation to avoid layoffs by reducing work hours for an entire group of workers rather than laying off some of them, and those workers can supplement their reduced wages with a partial unemployment benefit.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today awarded grant funding of $431,513 to the D.C. Department of Employment Services to improve and promote its Short-Time Compensation (STC) program. The STC program gives employers the opportunity to avoid layoffs by reducing work hours for an entire group of workers rather than laying off some of them. Those workers then become eligible to supplement their reduced wages with a partial unemployment benefit payment.

In the week ending January 2, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 787,000, a decrease of 3,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 3,000 from 787,000 to 790,000. The 4-week moving average was 818,750, a decrease of 18,750 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 750 from 836,750 to 837,500.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a final rule clarifying the standard for employee versus independent contractor status under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration has issued updated guidance that provides implementation information to states regarding two unemployment insurance programs: Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) and Mixed Earner Unemployment Compensation (MEUC). 

LOS ANGELES, CA – The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California has sentenced John S. Romero – a former president of the United Industrial and Service Workers of America in Colton, California – to 12 years in prison for embezzling funds from the union’s health plan, conspiracy and making false statements on annual government filings.

WILDER, KY – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Merkle Lawn Care Inc. – based in Wilder, Kentucky – has paid $20,502 in back wages to 42 employees for violating labor provisions of the H-2B visa program. The Department also assessed Merkle Lawn Care Inc. a civil penalty of $10,335.