WASHINGTON – Summer has begun and it brings hot weather – and potentially dangerous work conditions. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration reminds employers and workers to take precautions to stay safe before a heatwave begins.

OSHA’s message is simple: Water. Rest. Shade.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration today announced a proposed rule that would modify the agency’s recent beryllium standards for the construction and shipyard sectors. Representatives of the shipyards and construction industries, as well as members of Congress, raised concerns that they had not had a meaningful opportunity to comment on the application of the rule to their industries when the rule was developed in 2015-16.

NEW YORK – A company that operates 138 parking garages in New York City and surrounding areas has paid $296,836 in back wages for 1,164 employees and amended its payroll practices to align with the federal Fair Labor Standards Act as part of an agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor.

State: Michigan

Type of Award: National Dislocated Worker Grant

Initial Amount Approved: $15 million

Incremental Amount Awarded: $4.1 million

Funding Awarded to: Michigan Strategic Fund

Number of Workers Served: Approximately 650

In the week ending June 17, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 241,000, an increase of 3,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 237,000 to 238,000. The 4-week moving average was 244,750, an increase of 1,500 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 250 from 243,000 to 243,250.

Employer: Zenefits FTW Insurance Services

Site: 303 2^nd St. San Francisco, California
Two closed offices in Tempe and Scottsdale, Arizona

PHILADELPHIA – The owners of two establishments – a produce market and a restaurant – at Reading Terminal Market have entered into a stipulation agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor that requires the payment of $660,117 in back wages and liquidated damages to 140 present and past workers to resolve violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.

BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. – A month after a 33-year-old worker died while working in an unprotected trench, U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspectors found another employee of the same Missouri plumbing contractor working in a similarly unprotected trench at another job site.

WHITE BEAR LAKE, Minn. – Ten workers at a Minnesota title company will receive $107,893 in back wages and unpaid fringe benefits after the title insurance company that employed them was found in violation of the Service Contract Act during an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division. The employees worked on real estate closings on a contract with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

ARLINGTON, Va. – Data recently compiled between October 2015 and March 2017 by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration shows that less experienced miners – both at a mine and at a specific occupation – suffer injuries at a higher rate than more experience miners. Over this 18-month period, miners with one year or less of experience at a mine suffered 903 injuries, compared to 418 for those who had worked at a mine between one and two years.

HARTFORD, Conn. – When a Hartford health care facility failed to adequately respond to a tuberculosis exposure in December 2011, its interim senior vice-president for operations, director of nursing and its coordinator of its Healthy Start program actively tried or were associated with efforts to raise awareness among fellow employees, management and the public about the potential dangers. Among other things, they cooperated with public and workplace health agencies that investigated.

Type of Action: Consent order and judgement

Names of Defendants: Andrea Lynn McCarthy
Lisa Hall
Truss Systems LLC
Truss Systems LLC Profit Sharing Plan

WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta today announced the award of $43.3 million in grants through the U.S. Department of Labor’s Veterans’ Employment and Training Service to provide training to an estimated 21,000 homeless veterans to help them reintegrate into the American workforce. In all, the department’s 2017 award will fund 155 grants in its Homeless Veterans’ Reintegration Program.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor announced today the award of $11.4 million in federal Workforce Data Quality Initiative grants. The grants are designed to increase efficiency and effectiveness of these programs.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta today welcomed President Donald J. Trump’s bold step towards fulfilling his promises to grow the American economy with the announcement of an executive order to expand apprenticeships and vocational training, close the skills gap and reduce regulatory burdens on workforce development programs.

In the week ending June 10, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 237,000, a decrease of 8,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 245,000. The 4-week moving average was 243,000, an increase of 1,000 from the previous week's unrevised average of 242,000.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor will publish a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to rescind a rule that would have required employers and labor-management consultants to report consultants’ indirect contact with workers during union organizing campaigns. 

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor announced today the award of $248,500 in funding to help supplement existing employment and training efforts for Native Hawaiian youth with a focus on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math fields.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor announced today the award of $248,500 in funding to help supplement existing employment and training efforts for Alaska Native youth with a focus on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math fields.

PHILADELPHIA – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division is conducting a residential construction survey in 25 eastern Pennsylvania counties to collect data on wages paid to workers to help establish prevailing wage rates, as required under the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts.