MELROSE PARK, Ill. – Just six weeks after a machine amputated a maintenance worker’s left hand as he cleared jammed material stuck in a machine at its Melrose Park bread products facility, the company reported a second worker’s right forearm suffered multiple fractures as he cleaned another machine. Federal safety inspectors investigating the injuries found, in both instances, the company allowed employees to service machinery without isolating operating parts, a process known as lockout/tagout.

MINNEAPOLIS – One of the nation’s leading financial planning companies discriminated in pay against black employees, an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs has found.

RIPON, Wis. – For the second time in less than two months, federal safety and health inspectors found an employee at one of world’s leading commercial laundry equipment manufacturers suffered an amputation injury because a machine lacked adequate safety guarding.

Employer’s name: CPE Feeds Inc.
2102 Lubbock Road
Brownfield, Texas

Citations issued: Nov. 28, 2016

WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez today announced the appointments of five new members to the 2017 Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans, known as the ERISA Advisory Council. He also announced the incoming chair and vice chair of the council.

SALT LAKE CITY – A federal judge has ordered Brian Jessop and Paragon Contractors Corp., to make an initial payment of $200,000 to compensate hundreds of children who were employed illegally and not paid for their labor on a pecan ranch between 2008-2013. Jessop and Paragon coordinated with the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints to use children and others in the church for field work.

In the week ending December 3, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 258,000, a decrease of 10,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 268,000. The 4-week moving average was 252,500, an increase of 1,000 from the previous week's unrevised average of 251,500.

NEW YORK – A Garden City restaurant and catering hall will pay a total of $285,800 in back wages and liquidated damages to 24 underpaid employees to resolve violations of the minimum wage, overtime and recordkeeping requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The company will also pay $24,200 in civil money penalties to the U.S. Department of Labor and take corrective action to prevent future violations as part of a consent judgment filed with the U.S.

BOSTON – For several years, inspections by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration identified a disturbing pattern of defective forklifts being used to move, handle, load and unload freight in at least 11 Central Transport LLC shipping terminals in nine states.

EVANSTON, Ill. ‒ A Burbank contractor failed to provide employees remodeling a home in Evanston with adequate protection from falls and the personal protective equipment and training needed to work safely with silica and portland cement.

Employer name: NN Metal Stampings Inc.
510 Maple St.
Pioneer, Ohio

Citations issued: Dec. 2, 2016

Employer name: Los Arcos Inc., doing business as Los Arcos Mexican Restaurant

Investigation sites: 214 St. James Ave.
Goose Creek, South Carolina 29445

1136 Hungry Neck Blvd.
Mount Pleasant, South Carolina 29464

Employer Name: Subfloor Systems Inc.
10509 Tube St.
Hurst, Texas

Citations Issued: Nov. 8, 2016

O’FALLON, Ill. ‒ Federal investigators saw eight workers at risk of falls of more than 14 feet while re-roofing a commercial structure in O’Fallon in October 2016 because their employer failed to provide adequate fall protection.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez issued the following statement about the November 2016 Employment Situation report released today:

Employer name: Universal Health Services of Doylestown Inc.
833 East Butler Ave.
Doylestown, Pennsylvania

Corporate Headquarters: Universal Health Services Inc.
367 South Gulph Road
King of Prussia, Pennsylvania

Date of Action: Nov. 17, 2016

Type of Action: Lawsuit

Name of Defendants:Tango Bakery Inc., doing business as Tango Bakery
Adrian Gordillo-Ross
Sergio Mendoza

Employer name: U.S. Postal Service LLC, doing business as Brooklyn South Carrier Annex

Inspection site: 1500 Cherry Hill Road, Brooklyn, Maryland

Citations issued: On Nov. 22, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations to the postal service for one serious, two willful, and three repeat health violations.

Employer name: JFM International Inc.
300 E Stewart St.
Willis, Texas

Citations Issued: Nov. 30, 2016

SCOTT, La. – Investigators have found more than $571,000 in back wages, liquidated damages and penalties resulting from labor violations at area Cajun food retailers just six months after the U.S. Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division found violations at another local specialty meat processor.