Washington – Employers, unions, community colleges, and others are hosting hundreds of open houses and other events to commemorate the second annual National Apprenticeship Week, Nov. 14-20, 2016. The department’s call to action is to register 600 events to double last year’s number.

WASHINGTON – The Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans, also known as the ERISA Advisory Council, will meet at U.S. Department of Labor headquarters Nov. 9-10, 2016, to finalize their recommendations and to receive an update from the Employee Benefits Security Administration.

The council has scheduled the EBSA update tentatively for the afternoon of Nov. 10.

HUDSON, S.D. – Federal investigators found multiple safety violations at a South Dakota ethanol refinery expansion project after a 38-year-old pipefitter suffered fatal burn injuries when ethanol spilled from a process pipe he was working on and was ignited by flames from nearby welding operations.

WASHINGTON – The Job Corps program and national non-profit the Tom Joyner Foundation have entered into an innovative pilot partnership to help prepare students achieve greater success in college, the U.S. Department of Labor announced today.

In the week ending October 29, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 265,000, an increase of 7,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 258,000. The 4-week moving average was 257,750, an increase of 4,750 from the previous week's unrevised average of 253,000.

Employer Name: Bekaert Corp.
1881 Bekaert Drive
Van Buren, Arkansas

Citations Issued: Nov. 2, 2016

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation today released advance informational copies of the 2016 Form 5500 annual return/report and related instructions.

DALLAS – For manufacturing industry workers, amputation is serious risk and the cause of more than a 1,400 serious injuries each year. In 2015, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration received reports of more than 2,600 amputations nationwide – 57 percent of them suffered by manufacturing workers.

Most often, amputations occur when workers operate machines without proper or adequately safety guards.

Employer name: Collis Roofing Inc.

Inspection site: 202 Wellington Woods Ave.
Deland, Florida 32720          

SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Department of Labor has secured a judgment against San Francisco-based California Pacific Bank and four individual fiduciaries, requiring them to pay $866,840 in retirement benefits, plus interest, to employees who participated in the company’s stock ownership benefits plan.

Type of Action: Fair Labor Standards Act consent judgment

Names of Defendants: T. R. Timber Company
Tony M. Rosenbrugh

Findings: An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found that T.R. Timber Company and its majority owner, Tony M. Rosenbrugh, failed to pay truck drivers and hourly employees overtime for hours worked beyond 40 in a work week in violation of the FLSA.

NAPOLEON, Ohio – An Ohio manufacturer of railroad track repair kits routinely exposed its workers amputation risks and other serious injuries as they serviced and maintained industrial core machine mixers, an inspection by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has found.

PATASKALA, Ohio – For at least two years, an Ohio manufacturer of thermoplastic lining systems for truck bodies and trailers exposed workers to the risk of amputation and other serious injury by disabling safety devices to speed production.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today unveiled a new online tool to help employees and employers understand the medical and disability leave to which employees may be entitled to manage medical conditions and disabilities. 

Employer name: Dollar General, doing business as Dollar General Store #13229

Inspection site: 507 Jonestown Road
Jonestown, Pennsylvania

Citations issued: On Oct. 18, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations for one willful and two repeat safety violations.

MINERAL WELLS, Texas – While investigating one serious employee injury in May 2016, at PECOFacet – a global manufacturer of filtration and containment products – inspectors with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration found themselves investigating a second incident in which another employee was hurt seriously three days after they arrived.

Date of Action: Oct. 27, 2016

Type of Action: Lawsuit

Name of Defendants: Five Oaks Achievement Center LLC
Whispering Hills Achievement Center LLC
North Fork Educational Center LLC

PLAINFIELD, Ill. – A federal investigation prompted by the death of a 50-year-old worker at the Plainfield steel processing facility has resulted in a half-dozen safety and health violations.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued six serious safety and health violations to Coilplus Illinois Inc., for violations its inspector found after the June 23, 2016, death.

WASHINGTON – In light of the devastation following Hurricane Matthew, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employee Benefits Security Phyllis C. Borzi announced today an update on compliance with employee benefit plan rules for those adversely impacted.

Employer name: KG Marketing and Bag Co.
1201 S. Grandview Blvd
Waukesha, Wisconsin

Citations issued: Oct. 21, 2016