State: Ohio

Type of Award: National Dislocated Worker Grant

Initial Amount Approved: $2,000,000

Incremental Amount Awarded: $1,083,750

Funding Awarded to: Ohio Department of Job and Family Services

Number of Workers Served: Approximately 221

NEW YORK – For more than a dozen sales clerks, cashiers, stock clerks and security guards at three beauty supply stores in the Bronx and Brooklyn, the hours were long but too often, their pay came up short.

Now, as a result of a U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation and the department’s litigation, their employers must pay the 16 workers a total of $218,000 in back wages and liquidated damages.

Employer name: Roadmaster Transportation Inc.

Investigation site: 1640 Stone Ridge Drive, Stone Mountain, Georgia 30083

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – Concerned because they were experiencing sore throats, headaches and difficulty with breathing, employees of Quest Diagnostic Corp.’s Ameripath diagnostic laboratory in Shelton filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The agency’s Bridgeport Area Office began an inspection on March 6, 2016.

Employer name: Rogero & Williams Roofing Contractors Inc.

Inspection site: 5185 Datil Pepper Road, St. Augustine, Florida 32086

Citations issued: OSHA issued citations to the employer on Aug. 23, 2016

In the week ending August 27, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 263,000, an increase of 2,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 261,000. The 4-week moving average was 263,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week's unrevised average of 264,000.

Date of Action: Aug. 31, 2016

Type of Action: Consent order and judgment

Name(s) of Defendants: William P. Bowman

Who: U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration

What: The Mine Safety and Health Administration announced today that federal inspectors issued 161 citations during special impact inspections conducted at 11 coal mines and six metal and nonmetal mines in July.

Where: MSHA conducted special impact inspections at mines in Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Nevada, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.

Participants: U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division
North Carolina Industrial Commission

Date of Action: Aug. 29, 2016     

Type of Action: Default judgment

Name(s) of Defendant(s): Global Research Services LLC, Vice President of Finance Julie E. Garrett, and Global Research Services LLC 401(k) Plan

JESSUP, Md. – The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit alleging a Maryland demolition contractor discriminated against more than 150 Hispanic and African-American workers and allowed harassment of employees based on race and national origin.

ARLINGTON, Va. – Since October 2015, eight fatalities and more than 1,100 nonfatal accidents have occurred in the nation’s coal mines, resulting in restricted duty, missed days at work, and permanent disabilities for the miners who worked there.  While injury rates have been fairly consistent during this time period, records indicate a trend in accidents resulting in more serious injuries. The circumstances in at least 30 of the accidents might have led to fatalities.

WASHINGTON – At the U.S. Department of Labor headquarters in Washington today, U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez renewed partnership agreements with embassy officials representing the governments of Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Peru and the Philippines. The renewals come as the department kicks off Labor Rights Week 2016, from today through Sept. 4. This year’s theme is “Your Work Has Dignity. Know Your Rights.”

ST. LOUIS – Their drivers may have delivered the mail through snow, rain, heat and the gloom of night, but 16 mail haulers contracted by the U.S. Postal Service failed to pay full wages and benefits to more than 250 of their drivers in violation of federal law, an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division has found.

Date of Action: Aug. 11, 2016

Type of Action: Complaint

Name of Defendants: Direct HR Services Inc.
Commerce Benefits Group Agency Inc.
HealthSmart Benefit Solutions Inc.
Suzanne Burrow
Jason Syrek

CHERRY HILL, N.J. – One of the nation’s largest commercial transportation companies will finally pay driver dispatchers and trailer yard spotters for the long hours they worked, following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division.

FOLEY, Minn. – Imagine paying for the right to pick vegetables, and then traveling more than 2,000 miles  – from the Dominican Republic to a Minnesota farm where your employer demanded you kick back a portion of your wages and the entire cost of the airfare you paid – all in violation of federal law.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs has proposed a new rule to provide clarity regarding maximum and minimum compensation rates for claims payable under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act and its extensions.

WASHINGTON – One third of all workers do not have access to retirement savings plans through their employer. That’s why in every budget since taking office, President Obama has proposed federal legislation to automatically enroll workers in an Individual Retirement Account if they don’t have access to a workplace savings arrangement. In the absence of congressional action, several states have made strides in creating savings opportunities for residents.

Employer name: D.R. Horton Inc.
Garcia Carpentry LLC

Inspection site: The Meadows at Heath Brook, 4904 SW 58^th Place, Ocala, Florida 34474

Citations issued: OSHA issued citations to the employers on Aug. 15, 2016