ATLANTA — For the second time, federal investigators have found the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority violated employees' rights to take unpaid, job-protected leave for a qualifying medical or family issue.

A follow-up investigation to one conducted in 2013 by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division found that the city's mass transit system, known as MARTA, violated its workers' rights to leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act — a law since 1993.

Employer name: The Hunter Holmes McGuire Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 1201 Broad Rock Blvd. in Richmond, Virginia.

Notices issued: On Nov. 6, 2015, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued notices to the medical center after identifying four willful, two serious, and eight other-than-serious safety violations.

State: California

Type of Award: National Dislocated Worker Grant incremental

Incremental Amount Released: $6 million

Total Award Amount Approved: $18 million

Funding Awarded to: California Employment Development Department

Number of Workers Served: Approximately 1,000

Training to Work grants improve employment opportunities for formerly incarcerated adults

WASHINGTON — State and federal prisons release more than 600,000 people each year. Back in society — without the benefits of a steady job — far too many are likely to return.

For Immediate Release November 17, 2015

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration is seeking public comment on an updated version of its voluntary Safety and Health Program Management Guidelines. First published in 1989, the guidelines are being updated to reflect modern technology and practices.

Employer name: St. Mary's Health Care System Inc.

Investigation site: 1230 Baxter St., Athens, Georgia 30606

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration is seeking public comment on an updated version of its voluntary Safety and Health Program Management Guidelines. First published in 1989, the guidelines are being updated to reflect modern technology and practices.

Employer name: Clarion Sintered Metals Inc.'s main manufacturing plant is located at 3472 Montmorenci Road in Ridgway, Pennsylvania. This was the inspected worksite, where the company designs, manufactures, machines, cleans and finishes metal parts.

CHICAGO — Nearly 70 million workers lack access to an employer-sponsored retirement plan. Many states are seeking ways to expand savings options for these workers. It is against this backdrop that the U.S. Department of Labor has published a notice of proposed rulemaking and an interpretive bulletin meant to guide states as they create programs that help more workers save for retirement, and that do not run afoul of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

TEMPLE, Texas — Twice in 14 months, MooreCo Inc. temporary workers were seriously injured when inadequately guarded machines pulled them in, removing skin from the wrist up to the shoulder in the most recent incident, and from the wrist down in an earlier incident. As a result of the earlier incident, the employee's fingertips were also amputated.

Employer name: Tomra NY Recycling LLC, 31 Opus Blvd., Schenectady, New York 12306

Reason for inspection: A worker at the company's Schenectady recycling facility was operating a baler on May 14, 2015, when he was struck by a forklift that was attempting to pass by. The worker sustained a compound leg fracture.

VOLGA, S.D. — A federal administrative law judge upheld the findings of a U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation that led to the debarment of a Volga dairy farmer and an Aberdeen-based employment agency from a program that allows employers to hire temporary foreign labor for agricultural work. The judge also agreed that the dairy farmer owed $38,173 in wages to 15 U.S. workers after the domestic employees received lower earnings than the foreign workers.

Design Plastering Inc., Design Plastering West LLC cited for multiple violations

DALLAS – A fall from a third-story balcony killed 44-year-old Jorge Carrion Torres as he worked on the exterior of an apartment complex on May 14, 2015. Torres, who had been on the job for one month, was applying stucco underlayment to the balcony walls when the incident occurred. His employer had not installed scaffolding and had not provided Torres or his co-workers with personal fall protection.

DALLAS — A fall from a third-story balcony killed 44-year-old Jorge Carrion Torres as he worked on the exterior of an apartment complex on May 14, 2015. Torres, who had been on the job for one month, was applying stucco underlayment to the balcony walls when the incident occurred. His employer had not installed scaffolding and had not provided Torres or his co-workers with personal fall protection.

Employer name: Alberto El Romero is located at 630 Mifflin Street in Philadelphia. Workers were performing stucco operations on a work site located at 1011 South 7th Street in Philadelphia.

Citations issued: On November 5, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations for two serious and five repeat violations.

Funding Recipient: Winrock International

Total Funding: $4.5 million

Purpose: Implement a project to empower cocoa-growing communities and help youth further their education or develop marketable skills.

Location: Ghana

Participants:

Employers' names: Genesis Today Inc. and Texas Management Division Inc., doing business as TMD Temporaries, in Austin, Texas

Citations issued: Nov. 9, 2015