November 28, 2016

Ashley Furniture franchisee ordered to pay $216K in back wages, damages, penalties in US Labor Department settlement

Date of Action: Nov. 22, 2016

Type of Action: Lawsuit settlement and entry of judgment and injunction

Name of Defendant: Han Nara Enterprises L.P.
Lubbock, Texas

November 28, 2016

Construction company to pay $21K in back wages to 19 employees after US Labor Department investigation

Employer name: Environmental Painting Alternatives Inc.     

Investigation site: 1130 S. Rio Grande Ave.
Orlando, Florida 32805        

November 23, 2016

OSHA launches emphasis program to protect Wilkes Barre area retail store workers as holiday season beckons

WILKES BARRE, Pa. – As retailers, consumers and workers head into the hectic holiday season, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration is launching an enforcement initiative focused on protecting people employed in the retail industry in the greater Wilkes Barre area.

November 23, 2016

J.C. Stucco and Stone ordered to pay nearly $345K in fines after OSHA finds company continued to expose workers to scaffolding hazards

LANSDOWNE, Pa. – An administrative law judge recently affirmed nine cited federal safety and health violations and assessed $344,960 in fines against Lansdowne masonry contractor, J.C. Stucco and Stone. This follows a March 2016, hearing  regarding six willful and three repeat citations issued after two 2014 inspections by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

November 23, 2016

OSHA fines Philadelphia contractor $72K for fall, trenching safety violations

Employer name: Hua Da Construction
917 Arch St.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Inspection site: 934 Arch St.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Citations issued: On Nov. 9, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations for one repeat and one serious safety violations.

November 23, 2016

Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report

In the week ending November 19, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 251,000, an increase of 18,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised down by 2,000 from 235,000 to 233,000. The 4-week moving average was 251,000, a decrease of 2,000 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised down by 500 from 253,500 to 253,000.

November 22, 2016

CORRECTED: OSHA fines window manufacturer nearly $75K for exposing workers to safety hazards

Employer name: Crystal Window & Door Systems PA LLC

Inspection site: 204 Franklin Valley Road
Dalton, Pennsylvania

Citations issued: On Nov. 14, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations for eight serious and one other-than-serious safety violations.

November 21, 2016

OSHA investigates trench collapse after 28-year-old worker becomes 13th worker injured while working underground in 2016

SEVEN HILLS, Ohio – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Cleveland office has opened an investigation after learning a 28-year-old employee of W.F. Hann & Sons was injured while installing sewer lines in an 8-foot trench in Seven Hills on Nov. 19, 2016.

November 21, 2016

Judge approves order that Puerto Rico Police Department pay $8.7M to 2,642 officers, take additional corrective action to comply with federal wage law

Date of Action: Nov. 15, 2016

Type of Action: Consent judgment

Name of Defendants: Puerto Rico Police Department
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico

November 21, 2016

US Labor Department recovers $1.2M for workers on Manhattan’s federally funded Chambers Street Project

NEW YORK – Sixty-three workers employed on the federally funded reconstruction of Chambers Street between Broadway and West St. in Lower Manhattan will receive a total of $1,190,861 in back wages following an investigation and litigation by the U.S. Department of Labor, in keeping with a consent order  approved by the department’s Office of Administrative Law Judges.

November 17, 2016

Newly released MSHA data indicate that mining deaths fell to new lows in FY 2016

Who:   U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration

What: MSHA today completed its bi-annual update of its “Data at a Glance,” which shows an all-time low in the number of deaths caused by mine-related injuries for Fiscal Year 2016, and that fatality and injury rates for this period represent the lowest rates ever recorded. It also shows that Calendar Year 2015 was the safest in U.S. mining history.

November 17, 2016

Ohio worker’s death highlights grim 2016 national stat: trench collapse fatalities have more than doubled

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP, Ohio – OSHA cited an Ohio company after a 33-year-old employee was crushed to death in June 2016 as he was digging soil out of the 12-foot trench in Washington Township, when the trench walls around him collapsed – burying him in thousands of pounds of dirt. Rescue workers recovered his body a few hours later.

November 17, 2016

OSHA issues final rule updating walking-working surfaces standards and establishing personal fall protection systems requirements

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration today issued a final rule updating its general industry Walking-Working Surfaces standards specific to slip, trip, and fall hazards.

November 17, 2016

US Labor Department obtains permanent injunction against Maine’s Sullivan Granite to ensure safety inspections of quarry

ARLINGTON, Va. – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration has successfully obtained a permanent injunction against Sullivan Granite Co. LLC and its owner, Conrad J. Smith, ordering him to correct all safety hazards at Brown’s Meadow Quarry in Sullivan, Maine, and prohibiting him from refusing agency inspectors entry to conduct safety inspections.

November 17, 2016

Jacksonville, Florida, diner to pay $154K in back wages to 59 employees after US Department of Labor investigation

Employer name: Windy City Doc Holding LLC, doing business as Metro Diner

Investigation site: 1534 North 3rd St.
Jacksonville, Florida 32250

November 17, 2016

Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report

In the week ending November 12, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 235,000, a decrease of 19,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 254,000. This is the lowest level for initial claims since November 24, 1973 when it was 233,000. The 4-week moving average was 253,500, a decrease of 6,500 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 250 from 259,750 to 260,000.

November 17, 2016

US Labor Department awards more than $111M in America’s Promise grants to strengthen, expand regional job training partnerships

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of more than $111 million in America’s Promise grants to 23 regional workforce partnerships in 28 states to connect more than 21,000 Americans to education and in-demand jobs.

November 16, 2016

Iowa’s Ottumwa Job Corps Center now nation’s first to offer registered apprenticeship program

OTTUMWA, Iowa – Southeastern Iowa’s Ottumwa Job Corps Center is now the nation’s first to offer a registered apprenticeship program from the U.S. Department of Labor.

Given by the department’s Office of Apprenticeship, the designation enables the center’s certified nursing assistant students to obtain a nationally recognized advanced certification accepted at any hospital, nursing home or care center in Iowa and transferable to any state in the nation.

November 16, 2016

Washington residential care company to pay $518K in back wages, damages to 39 caregivers for minimum wage, overtime violations

Employer: Good Shepherd Home Inc., a residential care facility doing business as Good Shepherd Home, with locations in Shoreline, Washington

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