October 19, 2016

US Labor Department conducting wage survey of Connecticut building construction projects to ensure workers receive proper wages

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

The survey includes wages paid on all building construction projects between April 1, 2015 and March 31, 2016. It is not limited to federally funded construction projects.

October 19, 2016

Temporary workers rigging steel at Columbus building site at risk of 6-story falls as employers failed to provide fall protection, training

COLUMBUS, Ohio ‒ The absence of fall protection equipment exposed six temporary employees to falls of up to 60 feet as they welded and attached steel braces on a commercial construction site in Columbus. A dangerous oversight given that falls account for nearly 40 percent of work-related fatalities – the construction industry’s leading cause of death.

October 18, 2016

Framing contractor continues to expose workers to fall and other safety hazards; OSHA proposes nearly $360K in penalties

Employer name: Panama City Framing LLC

Inspection site: 3750 Cedar Park Lane
Panama City, Florida 32404

October 18, 2016

US Labor Department sues Gloucester seafood processor, Lowell employment agency to recover at least $272K in wages, damages for 55 employees

BOSTON — The U.S. Department of Labor is suing a Gloucester seafood processing, packing and distribution business; a Lowell temporary employment agency and payroll service that supplies temporary workers exclusively to the business, and their respective owners, for underpaying 55 vulnerable low-wage workers, falsifying records and taking improper payroll deductions from some of the employees.

October 18, 2016

Louisiana nursing home operator pays nearly $120K in penalties, back wages, damages to resolve violations following federal investigation

NEW ORLEANS – Two U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigations found that a nursing care operator with multiple southern Louisiana facilities violated the minimum wage, overtime and record-keeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

October 18, 2016

OSHA cites South Florida tree trimming service in worker’s fatal electrocution

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Had proper precautions been taken, a 34-year-old tree trimmer would not have been fatally electrocuted when an aluminum pole saw made contact with overhead power lines, an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has found.

Anthony Robert Donahue was strapped to a tree approximately 18 feet in the air and working at a private residence on Bay View Drive in Fort Lauderdale on April 25, 2016, when the incident occurred.

October 17, 2016

US Department of Labor conducting wage survey of Alaska’s residential construction industries to establish prevailing wages

SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division is conducting a residential construction survey in the state of Alaska. The division is currently collecting data on all residential construction projects active between July 1, 2015 and June 30, 2016 statewide. The survey is not limited only to federally funded construction projects.

October 17, 2016

US Labor Department sues Arkansas agricultural equipment maintenance company for $64K in unpaid wages, liquidated damages for workers

Date of Action: Oct. 5, 2016

Type of Action: Filing of lawsuit

Name of Defendants: Bailey Picker Repair
Burley Glenn Bailey, owner and manager

October 17, 2016

Lawsuit seeks more than $41K in unpaid overtime, minimum wages for 30 employees of Cincinnati vehicle repo service

Type of Action: Fair Labor Standards Act lawsuit filing

Names of Defendant(s): ARS Ohio LLC
Gary C. (“Chris”) Finn
Karen Finn

October 17, 2016

Pennsylvania masonry company agrees to pay $135K in back wages, damages to terminated plant manager following OSHA whistleblower investigation

MIDDLETOWN, Pa. – A Pennsylvania masonry company terminated a plant manager – less than two weeks after it hired him – after the manager repeatedly reported air quality and other safety and health hazards to upper management at the company's Middletown plant in 2014. 

October 17, 2016

Philadelphia contractor exposes workers to fall hazards again, this time at a South Jersey construction worksite

Employer name: Quick Carpentry Inc.
4501 Bleigh Avenue, Apt. A
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Inspection site: 258 Gordon Road, Lot 8
Robbinsville, New Jersey

Citations issued: On Sept. 26, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued the company citations for two repeat and seven serious violations.

October 13, 2016

OSHA fines Louisiana chemical manufacturer more than $92K after inspection finds 9 serious violations at Westlake facility

Employer Name: PPG Industries
3150 Pete Manena Road
Westlake, Louisiana

Citations Issued: Oct. 11, 2016

October 13, 2016

US Labor Department commits $5M to fight child labor in Zambia as new partner in ‘Let Girls Learn’ initiative

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor has announced a $5 million cooperative agreement to reduce child labor in rural Zambia among adolescent girls, ages 15-17, by increasing access to quality formal and non-formal education and training.

October 13, 2016

US Labor Department sues Utah drywall contractor for minimum wage, willful overtime, recordkeeping violations

Date of Action: Oct. 3, 2016

Type of Action: Filing of lawsuit

Name of Defendants: Solid Drywall LLC
Solid Construction Group LLC
Frank LeBaron

October 13, 2016

Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report

In the week ending October 8, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 246,000, unchanged from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised down by 3,000 from 249,000 to 246,000. The 4-week moving average was 249,250, a decrease of 3,500 from the previous week's revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since November 3, 1973 when it was 244,000. The previous week's average was revised down by 750 from 253,500 to 252,750.

October 12, 2016

As fall’s harvest arrives, OSHA urges grain-handling industry to be vigilant to stem a tide of recent tragedies, and near disasters

KANSAS CITY, Mo. ‒ Five seconds is all it takes for flowing grain to engulf and trap a worker. In 60 seconds, the worker is submerged and is in serious danger of death by suffocation. More than half of all workers engulfed in grain die this way. Many others suffer permanent disability.

October 12, 2016

OSHA investigation at Bucks County housing development marks 6th time Georgia-based roofing contractor cited for exposing workers to fall hazards

Employer name: Home Live Roofing LLC
936 East Calloway Roadbr> Marietta, Georgia

Inspection site:2101-2104 Jefferson on-the-Creek
Warminster, Pennsylvania

Citations issued: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued the company one willful, two repeat and one serious safety violations on Sept. 29, 2016.

October 12, 2016

Fresno recycling company pays $30K in back wages, damages to six workers after US Labor Department investigation

Employer: Buy Back Inc.

Locations: 1405 W. Shields Ave., Fresno
1435 S. Cedar Ave., Fresno
3190 E. Tulare St., Fresno
370 B St., Fresno
1435 Fresno St., Fresno

October 12, 2016

OSHA cites Omega Demolition Corp. after worker fatally crushed by 40-ton beam on I-90 bridge construction project in Des Plaines

CHICAGO – A federal investigation has determined that an overstressed 40-ton beam fell and caused the death of a 47-year-old laborer doing demolition of Chicago’s Interstate 90 and Touhy Road overpass in April.

October 11, 2016

Mining deaths, respirable dust samples drop to historic lows in FY 2016

ARLINGTON, Va. –The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration today released data that indicates Fiscal Year 2016 was the safest year in mining history.