OPELIKA, AL – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Ballard Construction Co. Inc. – a sewer and water utilities contractor based in Kellyton, Alabama – for exposing employees to excavation hazards after a worker was injured and hospitalized following a trench collapse. The contractor faces $34,476 in penalties.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and Wage and Hour Division (WHD) remind employers to protect worker safety and pay during the upcoming holiday season.

AUGUSTA, ME – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Shawn D. Purvis – owner of Purvis Home Improvement Co. Inc. based in Saco, Maine – for willful, repeat and serious workplace safety violations at a jobsite in Springvale, Maine. The roofing contractor faces a total of $278,456 in new penalties.

In the week ending November 23, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 213,000, a decrease of 15,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 227,000 to 228,000. The 4-week moving average was 219,750, a decrease of 1,500 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 250 from 221,000 to 221,250.

NEW YORK, NY – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has recovered payment of $442,000 in penalties and interest from Washington Township, New Jersey-based construction company Altor Inc. and its president Vasilios Saites, after years-long efforts by the Department to collect unpaid penalties for the company's safety violations.

SYRACUSE, NY – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Frazer & Jones Company Inc. for 33 workplace health and safety violations at the manufacturer’s Solvay, New York, iron foundry. The company faces $460,316 in penalties.

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia and Congressman Tim Walberg toured Classic Turning Inc. in Jackson, Michigan. Secretary Scalia and Congressman Walberg underscored the robust economic expansion many communities are experiencing.

SALINAS, CA – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Empire Farm Labor Contractor – based in Salinas, California – has paid $38,260 in back wages to 79 employees for multiple violations found under the H-2A temporary agricultural worker visa program and the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA). The contractor also paid $18,413 in civil money penalties for the violations found in Imperial County, California, that occurred from December 2018 to May 2019.

PHOENIX, AZ – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Diamond Kitchen & Bath Inc. – based in Phoenix, Arizona – will pay $15,000 in civil penalties and an additional $15,000 in lost wages for violating federal law by requesting one of its employees to submit to a polygraph test.

BOYNTON BEACH, FL – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Restoration Management 2013 Inc. – operating as ServPro in Boynton Beach, Florida – has paid $201,508 in back wages to 141 employees for violating the overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

KANSAS CITY, MO – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Blue Nile Contractors Inc. – based in Birmingham, Missouri – for failing to protect employees from trench collapse and electrical hazards. The company faces $210,037 in penalties.

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the U.S. Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration announced a record-high number of more than 250,000 new apprentices in Fiscal Year 2019, including over 80,000 new apprentices in the last quarter of FY 2019 – a new quarterly record high. The fourth quarter approximate total is 10% more than the fourth quarter of FY 2018, and 37% more than the fourth quarter of FY 2017.

Since the start of 2017, there have been 655,444 new apprentices.

FLORENCE, KY – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Pet Wellness Group PLLC – a veterinary medical clinic based in Florence, Kentucky – has paid $7,794 in back wages and liquidated damages to an employee for violating the nursing mothers’ provision of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

SWEDESBORO, NJ – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD), a U.S. Department of Labor administrative law judge (ALJ) has ordered Sun Valley Orchards, LLC – a farm in Swedesboro, New Jersey – to pay $344,945 in back wages and $211,800 in civil money penalties. Sun Valley Orchards, LLC will pay the back wages to 147 farmworkers, including 96 temporary foreign workers on H-2A visas.

Specifically, the ALJ found that the employer violated the H-2A provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act when they:

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) today released its program results for Fiscal Year 2019. EBSA’s enforcement and benefit advisor programs recovered over $2.5 billion in payments to plans, participants and beneficiaries.

In the week ending November 16, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 227,000, unchanged from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 2,000 from 225,000 to 227,000. The 4-week moving average was 221,000, an increase of 3,500 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 500 from 217,000 to 217,500.

DAYTON, OH – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio issued a consent order and judgment requiring the fiduciaries of Day-Mont Behavioral Health Care Inc. to restore $141,666 to the defunct Dayton, Ohio-based company’s employee benefit health and annuity plans. The mental health services provider ceased operations in 2018.

LOS ANGELES, CA – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California has sentenced Erica Carey – former owner of Long Beach Medi-Spa in Long Beach, California – to three years' probation and ordered her to pay $366,740 in restitution for defrauding a maritime union welfare plan.

LAKE PLACID, FL – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Red Harvesting Inc. – a farm labor contractor based in Lake Placid, Florida – has paid $39,527 in wages to 119 employees for violating requirements of the H-2A visa program. The contractor also paid a $1,214 civil penalty, assessed by the Department.

TAMPA, FL – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Gandy SNF LLC – a nursing facility based in Tampa, Florida – has paid $53,018 in back wages to 105 employees for violating the overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).