SACRAMENTO – Federal wage and hour investigators have seen corrupt employers try all kinds of scams to shortchange workers and to intimidate or retaliate against employees but a northern California restaurant’s attempt to use an alleged priest to get employees to admit workplace “sins” may be among the most shameless.

LABELLE, FL – Federal investigators have found that a subcontractor employed during construction of a new reservoir pump station on the Caloosahatchee River in Hendry County failed to pay 11 electricians the correct wage rate for the federally supported project, denying them $171,998 in wages and benefits.

WASHINGTON – The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement’s Interagency Labor Committee for Monitoring and Enforcement today requested the government of Mexico review an allegation that the rights of workers at the Industrias del Interior, S. de R.L. de C.V. 2000 garment facility in Aguascalientes are being denied.

WASHINGTON – The familiar sounds of weed trimmers and lawn mowers and the sights of landscaping workers are familiar sights in many neighborhoods, office parks and other locations. For people doing these jobs, including young people employed for the summer, the work exposes them to hazards such as moving machine parts, heat exposure, falling trees and toxic chemicals.

ORLANDO, FL – A Florida-based entertainment company could have prevented a deadly fire and explosion at an Orlando warehouse in December 2022 in which four employees perished and a fifth was left hospitalized for months with near-fatal injuries, a federal workplace safety investigation has found.

WASHINGTON – As Canadian wildfires continue to produce unhealthy air pollution in parts of the country, the U.S. Department of Labor announced that its Occupational Safety and Health Administration is offering employers important information to help protect outdoor workers from exposure to wildfire health hazards.

SIOUX FALLS, SD – A federal whistleblower investigation found a South Dakota-based helicopter ambulance servicer retaliated against a mechanic who reported safety concerns and filed a complaint with the Federal Aviation Administration.

Participants:  U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational    

Safety and Health Administration

BUFFALO GROVE, IL ‒ Down about seven feet from the surface, the 27-year-old worker of a Burr Ridge plumbing contracting business was fixing a residential water line damaged during excavation when the trench’s walls collapsed, crushing him fatally in December 2022 at a Buffalo Grove work site. Another employee in the trench with him at the time escaped the trench unharmed.

PEWAUKEE, WI – Federal workplace safety inspectors opened an investigation at a Pewaukee Dollar Tree store in January 2023 in response to an employee’s concerns about unsafe work conditions.

DENVER ‒ The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health is recognizing the continued commitment to employees’ well-being by nine Montana employers all of which recorded zero recordable injury or illness incidents in 2022. 

What::            Presentation of OSHA Region VIII Voluntary Protection Programs’ Leadership Award

Who:               Joseph Sviatko, operations and maintenance technician

Black Hills Energy, Cheyenne Prairie Generating Station

Cheyenne, Wyoming.

DENVER ‒ The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health is recognizing the continued commitment to employees’ well-being by three North Dakota employers – Bayer Northern Production Company, West Fargo, CF Industries in Grand Forks and NuStar Energy, Central East Region in Jamestown – all of which recorded zero recordable injury or illness incidents in 2022. 

Participant:         Phillips 66 Bulk Petroleum Storage Facility and Terminal

Casper, Wyoming

What:                   OSHA Region VIII Voluntary Protection Programs’ Decades of Excellence Award

DENVER ‒ The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health is recognizing the continued commitment to employees’ well-being by two South Dakota employers – Bayer Research and Development LLC in Harrisburg and NuStar Energy’s Central East Region in Sioux Falls – both of which recorded zero recordable injury or illness incidents in 2022. 

DENVER ‒ The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health is recognizing the continued commitment to employees’ well-being by three Wyoming employers – Black Hills Energy, Cheyenne Prairie Generating Station in Cheyenne; Phillips 66, Casper Station in Casper; and Phillips 66, Rock Springs Terminal in Rock Springs – all of which recorded zero recordable injury or illness incidents in 2022. 

ORLAND PARK, IL – For the seventh time since 2015, federal workplace safety inspectors have cited an Oswego contractor who refuses to protect carpenters working at elevations, as required by federal law.

In the week ending June 3, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 261,000, an increase of 28,000 from the previous week's revised level. This is the highest level for initial claims since October 30, 2021 when it was 264,000. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 232,000 to 233,000. The 4-week moving average was 237,250, an increase of 7,500 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 250 from 229,500 to 229,750.

SANTA FE SPRINGS, CA – El Departamento de Trabajo de EE.UU. ha obtenido un dictamen por consentimiento para la recuperación de $650,000 en salarios de horas extra no pagados a 26 conductores de entrega de productos empleados por un fabricante de alimentos de Santa Fe Springs que los clasificó erróneamente como contratistas independientes exentos al pago de taridas de horas extra.

SANTA FE SPRINGS, CA – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment as part of its efforts to recover $650,000 in unpaid overtime wages for 26 delivery drivers of a Santa Fe Springs food manufacturer that misclassified them as independent contractors exempt from overtime.