In the week ending August 20, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 261,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 262,000. The 4-week moving average was 264,000, a decrease of 1,250 from the previous week's unrevised average of 265,250.

Employers: Astoria Quality Senior Living, a residential care facility doing business as Astoria II

Location: 8041 Blackburn Ave., Los Angeles, California

State: Texas

Type of award: National Dislocated Worker Grant

Amount approved/awarded: $559,005

Funding awarded to: Texas Workforce Commission

Number of workers served: Approximately 85

Use of funds: The U.S. Department of Labor approved a National Dislocated Worker Grant award for $559,005 to the Texas Workforce Commission to provide reemployment services to dislocated workers impacted by April 2016 layoffs in the coal industry.

BATON ROUGE, La. – Louisiana residents – emergency workers, employers and the public – recovering from the impact of the recent floods should be aware of the hazards they may encounter and take necessary steps to stay safe, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration urges.

LONG ISLAND, N.Y. – An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division’s Long Island District Office has resulted in the recovery of more than $178,000 in back wages and damages for 95 nail salon workers underpaid between 2012 and 2015 at six Nassau and Suffolk County nail salons. In addition, the salons will pay $24,640 in civil monetary penalties as part of their settlement.

WASHINGTON – To ensure that federal contractors better comply with laws that protect their workers’ safety, wages and civil rights, the U.S. Department of Labor and the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council today announced final regulations and guidance implementing the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order.

Employer: Dinh Construction Corporation

Location: 2313 Hall Ave., Riverside, California

State: California

Type of award: National Dislocated Worker Grant

Total amount approved: $11,000,000

Incremental amount released: $2,000,000

Funding awarded to: California Employment Development Department

Number of workers served: Approximately 500

COLUMBUS, Neb. – While some in charge at Daniels Produce LLC kept workers away from U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigators, others gathered the farm laborers and instructed them to tell federal authorities the company never paid them less than legally required wages. If the workers did not lie during their interviews, their employer threatened to send them home to Mexico and Guatemala and not invite them back to work in future growing seasons.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division is conducting survey of building and heavy construction projects in seven New Mexico counties to help establish prevailing wage rates as required under the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts.

Employer: Unique Custom Exteriors

Site: 9326 South Hawley Park Road #A, West Jordan, Utah 84088

DENVER – Officials from the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development signed a Memorandum of Understanding to help stop the misclassification of workers in Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming.

The first MOU of its kind represents a new effort on the part of the agencies to work together to protect employee rights and level the playing field for responsible employers by reducing the practice of misclassification.

Employer name:  Liqui-Box Corporation, Ashland, Ohio

Citations issued: Aug. 11, 2016

Date of Action: Aug. 15, 2016

Type of Action: Complaint

Name(s) of Defendants: A. Kenneth Belanger
Jo-Ann Belanger
Belanger and Co.  Inc.

Allegations: After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration, the Secretary of Labor filed a complaint alleging that:

Employer name: Makin’ Choices Inc.

Investigation site: 2000 Chapel Hill Road, #23, Durham, North Carolina 27707

In the week ending August 13, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 262,000, a decrease of 4,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 266,000. The 4-week moving average was 265,250, an increase of 2,500 from the previous week's unrevised average of 262,750.

Employer: Brownlow Plastering LLC

Site: 19031 Trippi Road, Hammond, Louisiana 70403

Employer name: National Manufacturing Co. Inc.

Inspection site: 12 River Road, Chatham, New Jersey            

Citations issued: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations for 10 serious safety violations on July 25, 2016.

Type of Action: Fair Labor Standards Act lawsuit filing 

Name of Defendants: Austin Electric Services LLC
Toby Thomas

Employer name: U.S. Postal Service LLC, doing business as Silver Spring MPO Carr Annex Hotel

Inspection site: 8827 Monard Drive, Silver Spring, Maryland       

Citations issued: On Aug. 1, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued one other-than-serious violation and five repeated violations to the company.