MANCHESTER, NH – A North Carolina-based tree thinning contractor who employed foreign forestry workers in Maine as fir-tippers has paid a total of $55,810 in civil money penalties to the U.S. Department of Labor to resolve violations of federal laws protecting migrant and seasonal workers, and preventing adverse conditions for U.S. workers. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Administrative Law Judges ordered the resolution in a decision and order approving consent findings.

In the week ending July 3, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 373,000, an increase of 2,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 7,000 from 364,000 to 371,000. The 4-week moving average was 394,500, a decrease of 250 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 up by 2,000 from 392,750 to 394,750.

SEATTLE – Pipe fitters, electricians, forklift operators and carpenters working on two separate federally funded contracts on Naval Base Kitsap failed to receive the prevailing wages and benefits required for their occupations because their employer classified them incorrectly as lower-compensated general laborers.

MANCHESTER, NH – Pizza shops rely on drivers to make timely deliveries to their customers. These drivers depend on their employers to pay them their hard-earned wages, as the law requires. When Checkmate Pizza in Concord and Londonderry failed to deliver all the wages drivers had earned, the U.S. Department of Labor stepped in.

CHICAGO – The operators of a Chicago towing company that promises customers round-the-clock service failed to pay dozens of its workers legally for the hours they worked providing emergency road service. 

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the supplemental award of $798,246 to the South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation to support workforce development to respond to the impacts of the pandemic on the state.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor announced today the availability of $5 million in grant funding to combat child and forced labor abuses in Malaysia’s palm oil and garment industries.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced incremental funding of $1,996,702 to members of the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe in northwestern Washington to provide jobs, and employment and training services to individuals in communities impacted significantly by the health and economic effects of widespread opioid use, addiction and overdose.

CLARKSBURG, TN – When the owners of a Clarksburg supermarket allowed two 16-year-old employees to clean a meat grinder, disaster soon struck. As one boy reached inside the machine, the grinder started and amputated the teenager’s right forearm.

NORTH CHARLESTON, SC – Some employees may not understand fully how federal law protects them if their employer fails to pay them as the Fair Labor Standards Act requires, as workers at two North Charleston-area food stores have learned.

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

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of a $6,458,984 grant to the New York Department of Labor to improve its Short-Time Compensation program and promote its advantages to the state’s business community. Also known as work sharing, STC seeks to prevent layoffs by allowing an entire group of workers to receive a partial unemployment benefit payment while their employer reduces their hours.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of a $1,187,842 grant to the Connecticut Department of Labor to improve its Short-Time Compensation program and promote its advantages to the state’s business community. Also known as work sharing, STC seeks to prevent layoffs by allowing an entire group of workers to receive a partial unemployment benefit payment while their employer reduces their hours.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of a $4,187,442 grant to the Illinois Department of Employment Security to implement a Short-Time Compensation program and promote its advantages to the state’s business community. Also known as work sharing, STC seeks to prevent layoffs by allowing an entire group of workers to receive a partial unemployment benefit payment while their employer reduces their hours.

HARRISBURG, PA – When an employer shortchanges home healthcare workers they hurt the workers, their families and the people for whom they care. In the case of a Harrisburg home healthcare company, a U.S. Department of Labor investigation has remedied overtime violations involving 242 workers and recovered $1,566,457 in hard-earned wages owed to them.

NEW ORLEANS – An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has found that CSX Transportation violated the Federal Railroad Safety Act and demonstrated a pattern of retaliation after firing a worker in December 2019 for reporting safety concerns. OSHA ordered the company to pay $71,976 in back wages, interest, and damages, and $150,000 in punitive damages.

In the week ending June 26, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 364,000, a decrease of 51,000 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 up by 4,000 from 411,000 to 415,000. The 4-week moving average was 392,750, a decrease of 6,000 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 up by 1,000 from 397,750 to 398,750.

SAN DIEGO – Aunque una empresa de construcción del Sur de California pagó a sus empleados las primeras 40 horas trabajadas cada semana de acuerdo con la Ley de Normas Razonables de Trabajo,  una investigación federal encontró que las prácticas del empleador respecto al pago de sobretiempo no cumplían con la ley.

SAN DIEGO – While the way a Southern California construction company paid employees the first 40 hours each week complied with the Fair Labor Standards Act, federal investigators found the employer’s overtime pay practices did not.

MOUNT HOLLY, NJ – Following a coronavirus outbreak in March that led to the deaths of two workers, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration found that a Mount Holly-based healthcare provider failed to implement a required coronavirus prevention program at two of its locations.