January 7, 2016

So Cal tire and road service employer to pay more than $118K in unpaid wages, damages to 11 workers

Employer: Bonifacio Ontiveros, doing business as Benny’s Tire and Road Service

Site: 31514 Castaic Road, Castaic, California 91384

January 7, 2016

Financial Carrier Services in Charlotte, North Carolina to pay more than $26K to 33 workers following US Labor Department investigation

Employer name: Financial Carrier Services Inc.

Investigation site: 13325 South Point Blvd., Charlotte, North Carolina

January 7, 2016

OSHA cites SB Framing Services after worker dies after falling from roof

NAPLES, Fla. – Had his employer taken the necessary steps to fully protect him, a 32-year-old construction worker might not have suffered deadly injuries in a fall at a Naples building site on Sept. 26, 2015.

Selvin Velasquez, a residential framer, was working at a new residence at Marbella Isles on Monticello Boulevard when he lost his balance and fell from 19 feet to the ground below. Velasquez was transported to a hospital where he later succumbed.

January 7, 2016

Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report

In the week ending January 2, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 277,000, a decrease of 10,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 287,000. The 4-week moving average was 275,750, a decrease of 1,250 from the previous week's unrevised average of 277,000.

January 6, 2016

Nearly $2M awarded to help Virginia workers affected by coal mining industry layoffs rejoin workforce

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor has awarded POWER Initiative National Dislocated Worker Grant funding of $1,965,730 to the Virginia Community College System to help provide reemployment services required by coal industry workers to prepare for positions in emerging and growing fields.

January 5, 2016

US mining deaths dropped to new lows in 2015

Work-related accidents claimed 28 miners' lives, preliminary data shows

ARLINGTON, Va. – Preliminary data released by the U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration indicate that 28 miners died in 2015 in work-related accidents at the nation's mines, down from 45 in 2014. The figure represents the lowest number of mining deaths ever recorded and the first year that mining deaths dropped below 30.

January 5, 2016

OSHA cites Latite Roofing for repeatedly exposing workers to fall hazards

Employer name: Latite Roofing and Sheet Metal LLC

Inspection sites: 9617 NW 7th Circle, Building #3; 9741 NW 7th Circle, Building #5; and 9710 SW 7th Circle, Building #10, Plantation, Florida 33324.

Citations issued: Citations were issued to the employer on Dec. 29.

January 5, 2016

One Global Security, in Orlando, Florida agrees to pay more than $33K in back wages following US Labor Department investigation

Employer name: One Global Security Inc.

Investigation site: 8552 Keswick Pointe Drive, Orlando, Florida 32829

January 5, 2016

Tampa manufacturer paying nearly $60K in back wages and damages after US Labor Department investigation

Employer name: Vartek LLC

Investigation site: 6715 North 53rd St., Tampa, Florida 33610

January 5, 2016

Restaurant enforcement initiative finds more than $2.27M in back wages, damages owed to more than 3,000 Georgia workers

ATLANTA — U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigations have identified widespread violations of the minimum wage, overtime and record-keeping requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act in Georgia's restaurant industry. As a result, restaurants are paying a total of $2,277,480 in back wages and damages to more than 3,000 employees.

January 5, 2016

Department files suit to force defunct Missouri engineering firm to restore $15K owed to employees' retirement and health care plans

Date of Action: Dec. 30, 2015

Type of Action: Complaint

Name of Defendant: James M. Claxton Jr.

Allegations: An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration, Kansas City Regional Office, resulted in the department filing a suit in federal court alleging violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

January 5, 2016

Serial violator exposes employees to potentially fatal fall and other hazards at New Hampshire worksite

CONCORD, N.H. — Litchfield contractor Michael Cahoon, who does business as High & Dry Roofing, knows he must protect his employees against falls and other hazards at his jobsites. Yet, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited him repeatedly for putting workers in danger of deadly and disabling falls, most recently in Manchester.

January 5, 2016

US mining deaths dropped to new lows in 2015

ARLINGTON, Va. — Preliminary data released by the U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration indicate that 28 miners died in 2015 in work-related accidents at the nation's mines, down from 45 in 2014. The figure represents the lowest number of mining deaths ever recorded and the first year that mining deaths dropped below 30.

January 4, 2016

Las Vegas limousine company will pay drivers $240K in back wages

Employers: VLS, LLC doing business as Vegas Limousine Service

Sites: 1400 Commerce Street Las Vegas Nevada 89102

January 4, 2016

Dollar General Corp. exposes employees to workplace safety and health hazards at store in Sherman, Texas

Employer name: Dollar General Corp. is headquartered at 100 Mission Ridge in Goodlettsville, Tennessee. The inspected store is located at 2222 Texoma Parkway, Sherman, Texas.

Citations issued: Dec. 31, 2015

January 4, 2016

Williamsport, Pennsylvania, bridge repair company named a 'severe violator' after fatal trench collapse at Eyers Grove work site

Employer name: Susquehanna Supply Company Inc., is headquartered at 2 Rose Street in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The inspected location was a work site just outside Little Fishing Creek on State Route 4021 Eyers Grove Road in Millville, Pennsylvania. The bridge repair and construction company was contracted by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to rehabilitate a small steel-frame bridge over the creek.

January 4, 2016

US Department of Labor files suit requiring a fiduciary to restore employee contributions to AMI Associates Group Inc. 401(k) Plan in Lyons, Illinois

Date of Action: Dec. 30, 2015

Type of Action: Filing of a Complaint

Names of Defendant: Earl Kaminski, AMI Associates Group Inc. 401(k) Plan

Allegations: From Oct. 1, 2008, to the present, Earl Kaminski was president and sole owner of AMI Associates Group Inc., and exercised authority and control over the management or disposition of the assets of the company's 401(k) plan.

January 4, 2016

US Department of Labor files suit to remove fiduciary, terminate defunct Carr Freight Systems Inc. 401(k) Plan in Eagan, Minnesota

Date of Action: Nov. 13, 2015

Type of Action: Filing of a Complaint

Names of Defendant: Carr Freight Systems Inc., Carr Freight Systems Inc. 401(k) Plan

January 4, 2016

Pennsylvania marketing company owes at least $1.75M in back wages and damages for docking employee pay for compensable break time

MALVERN, Pa. — For telemarketing workers of a Malvern publishing company, deciding when to take water, bathroom and rest breaks was a matter of dollars and cents. The workers had their pay docked for virtually all time not spent making sales calls, sometimes bringing their wages below the federal minimum wage.

December 31, 2015

MSHA commemorates 10-year anniversary of Sago Mine disaster

ARLINGTON, Va. – Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health Joseph A. Main today issued the following statement on the 10-year anniversary of the Sago Mine disaster:

"On Jan. 2, 2006, at approximately 6:30 a.m., the Sago coal mine in Tallmansville, West Virginia, exploded with 29 miners underground. Although 16 successfully escaped, 12 miners lost their lives and one was seriously injured.