TAMPA, FL – When three Arcadia citrus farm labor contractors failed to comply with the requirements of the federal H-2A agricultural worker visa program, they shortchanged 123 employees – owing them $72,609 in total wages.

NORTH CHARLESTON, SC – Laws protecting the wages of tipped workers apply whether they work in restaurants or in grocery stores where food is served. A South Carolina employer learned this expensive lesson after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that its Veterans’ Employment and Training Service will extend its traditional Transition Assistance Program curriculum beyond the active military installations it currently serves to at least 50 locations in at least 20 states to expand their efforts to improve employment-related outcomes in areas where large veteran populations face high rates of unemployment.

SAVANNAH, GA – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has signed a strategic partnership with Choate Construction to promote worker safety and health during the construction of a mixed-use development in the historic district of Savannah. The Associated General Contractors of Georgia Inc. and the Georgia Tech Enterprise Innovation Institute – Safety, Health and Environmental Services Group are also supporting this partnership effort.

NEW YORK – A federal court has ordered a prominent Long Island thoroughbred horseracing stable and its owner to pay a total of $132,631 in back wages and liquidated damages to 52 grooms and hot walkers at several locations, including Belmont and Aqueduct racetracks. The stable owner failed to pay workers the overtime wages they earned.

ATLANTA - Aunque la desmotadora de algodón ha aumentado enormemente la velocidad de producción de las cosechas desde su invención hace más de tres siglos, el Departamento de Trabajo de EE.UU.

ATLANTA – While the cotton gin has greatly increased the speed of crop production since its invention more than three centuries ago, the U.S. Department of Labor has found 8 out of 10 cotton gin employers it investigated in the Southeast region violated the Fair Labor Standards Act, Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act, or provisions of the H-2A visa program.

BILLINGS, MT – A federal workplace safety investigation in July 2021 found a utility contractor in Montana exposed employees working in and around trenches to potentially deadly hazards.

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

Date of action:                       Dec. 30, 2021

Type of action:                      Order

Names of defendants:       Convergys Customer Management Group Inc.

Who:               Wage and Hour Division

                          Occupational Safety and Health Administration

What:             Assistance and enforcement action in Arkansas after December 2021 tornadoes

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor and the National Labor Relations Board announced today that the department’s Wage and Hour Division and the NLRB have signed a Memorandum of Understanding strengthening the agencies’ partnership and outlining procedures on information-sharing, joint investigations and enforcement activity, as well as training, education and community outreach.

MINNEAPOLIS – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered more than $9.3 million for participants of a Minneapolis manufacturing company’s employee stock ownership plan after the fund overpaid for company stock in 2011, under the terms of a consent judgment entered in a federal court.

KANSAS CITY, MO – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Consulate General of Mexico in Kansas City have renewed an alliance – first signed in 2013 – to continue their collaborative relationship to promote workplace safety and health with the consulate and Mexican nationals working in Kansas and Missouri.

In the week ending January 1, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 207,000, an increase of 7,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 2,000 from 198,000 to 200,000. The 4-week moving average was 204,500, an increase of 4,750 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 500 from 199,250 to 199,750.

ATLANTA – The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, against a Peachtree City auto repair shop and its owner seeking $36,971 in back wages and liquidated damages after investigators found they violated the retaliation, overtime and recordkeeping prohibitions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

HIDDEN HILLS, CA – A Southern California construction company has paid $72,342 in back wages and liquidated damages to 12 workers after the U.S. Department of Labor found the employer failed to pay them overtime wages as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act. The department also assessed $8,460 in penalties for the employer’s willful violations.

SAN JOSE, CA – A U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division investigation found that the owner of a luxury apartment rental property in San Jose’s historic Japantown denied maintenance workers overtime wages, and failed to keep accurate records of employees’ earnings in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

DECATUR, AL – Exposure to dangerous toxins at an Alabama chemical manufacturing plant – Daikin America Inc. – lead to the deaths of two workers and sickened another worker after the employer failed to provide appropriate protective equipment and implement safe work practices during maintenance activities on chemical processing equipment.

HONOLULU – A U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division investigation has found a Hawaii flooring contractor misclassified some employees as independent contractors and paid others straight-time wages for all hours when they worked over 40 in a workweek, both violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act.