WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau today awarded $1.1 million in grants to research and analyze how paid-leave programs can be developed and implemented across the country. The grants build on the Paid Leave Analysis Grant Program that, since 2014, has committed more than $3 million to 17 states and municipalities to support research and analysis on the implementation of paid family and medical-leave programs.

Employer name: Mattocks Five Inc., doing business as Albion Mill

Inspection site: 73 Canal St., Albion, Pennsylvania

Employer name: Liberty Master, Inc., 903 Curtis Lane, Scranton, Pennsylvania

Inspection site: 1735 Mulberry Way, Yardley, Pennsylvania          

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – An Overland Park flooring company that misclassified installers as independent contractors will pay 22 workers a total of $159,144 – representing $79,572 in back wages plus an equal amount in liquidated damages – after a U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation.

ANDOVER, Mass.  – Dorchester-based contractor Roof Kings LLC exposed employees to life-threatening falls – more than 45 feet off the ground – over a three-day period as they worked at a Haverhill church, federal workplace safety and health inspectors found.

Employer name: U.S. Postal Service
8182 State Road 56
West Baden Springs, Indiana

Citations issued: July 29, 2016

FRESNO, Calif. – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division and the California Vanpool Authority will sign a Memorandum of Understanding to expand the use of the authority’s CalVans fleet – based on the demand from growers, packers and farm labor contractors – to ensure safe and reliable transportation for Central Valley farmworkers to and from the fields every day. The event coincides with the anniversary of an infamous vehicle accident that killed 13 farmworkers in the region in 1999.

PITTSBURGH – Twice in about a month, United States Steel Corp. gave seven employees tasks that exposed them to asbestos, a widely recognized hazard associated with serious and fatal health risks including lung cancer, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has found.

DENVER – After hailstorms in residential areas, roofing contractors may come knocking – offering to make repairs on damaged roofs. Homeowners anxious to protect their property and their wallets should be aware that some companies put profits before their employees’ safety and well-being, and could wind up costing their customers even more.

Employer name: Henry RAC Holding Corp.

Inspection site: 59 East 1st St., Bayonne, New Jersey        

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

Employer:  Bosco’s Inc.

Sites: 2301 Spenard Road, Anchorage, Alaska
800 E. Dimond Blvd., Suite #162, Anchorage, Alaska

Employer name: Golden Dragon Copper Inc., doing business as GD Copper USA Inc.

Inspection site: 405 GD Copper Drive, Pine Hill, Alabama 36769

Citations issued: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations to GD Copper for two willful, one repeat, nine serious and two other-than-serious safety violations. 

Employer name: Waupaca Foundry Inc., 
1955 Brunner Drive, 
Waupaca, Wisconsin

Citations issued: July 29, 2016

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued two repeat and two serious safety violations to Waupaca Foundry Inc.

WARRENSBURG, Mo. – A 57-year-old maintenance worker was crushed fatally by a 4,000 pound machine part while performing maintenance inside of a sand core machine at a Warrensburg aluminum foundry.

Employer name: Solvay Specialty Polymers USA LLC

Inspection site: 10 Leonard Lane, West Deptford, New Jersey          

Participants: U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division
Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry

TAMPA, Fla. – A federal investigation into pay practices at a technology subsidiary of global banking giant Citigroup revealed the Florida company denied hundreds of employees’ overtime compensation and did not maintain time records, both violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

In the week ending July 30, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 269,000, an increase of 3,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 266,000. The 4-week moving average was 260,250, an increase of 3,750 from the previous week's unrevised average of 256,500.

Employer name: U.S. Postal Service, 104 S. Fillmore St., Osceola, Iowa

Citations issued: July 29, 2016