August 1, 2024

READOUT: Acting Secretary Su leads US delegation, promotes workers’ rights at G20 Labor and Employment Ministers Meeting in Brazil

WASHINGTON – Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su and a delegation from the department’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs joined labor ministers to discuss shared labor and employment priorities at the G20 Labor and Employment Ministers’ Meeting in Fortaleza, Brazil, from July 25 to 26, 2024. 

August 1, 2024

Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report

In the week ending July 27, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claimswas 249,000, an increase of 14,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 235,000. The 4-week moving average was 238,000, an increase of 2,500 from the previous week's unrevised average of 235,500.

August 1, 2024

US Department of Labor obtains judgment ordering North Jersey construction companies, owners to pay $600K in wages, damages to 131 workers

NEWARK, NJ – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a federal court order that requires two New Jersey construction companies and their owners and managers to pay $600,000 in back wages and liquidated damages to 131 former employees after a federal investigation found the employers engaged in an illegal bonus pay scheme.

July 31, 2024

US Department of Labor recovers $150K in back wages, damages for 37 misclassified Amarillo maintenance, parts runners denied overtime pay

Employer:      Pace Enterprise LLC, operating as Pace Realty Group 

                             4005 SW 50th Ave. 

                             Amarillo, TX 79109 

July 31, 2024

US Department of Labor announces $45M in funds available to improve employment opportunities for young people affected by violence, poverty

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the availability of $45 million in funding to support programs to provide skills training through work-based learning, employment services, educational support and mentorship to young adults, ages 15 to 24, in communities affected by violence, crime and poverty. 

July 30, 2024

Department of Labor, Office of the Trade Representative reach agreement with Mexican government to protect labor rights at Puebla Volkswagen plant

WASHINGTON – The U.S. and Mexican governments today announced an agreement on a course of remediation at the Volkswagen vehicle assembly plant in Puebla, Mexico, in response to a petition filed under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement’s Rapid Response Labor Mechanism. 

July 30, 2024

Federal court awards $35.8M in back wages, damages in historic recovery after investigation finds wage theft by Pennsylvania healthcare employers

PITTSBURGH – In one of the nation’s largest wage recovery judgments, a Pennsylvania federal court has awarded $35.8 million in overtime back wages and liquidated damages to 6,000 current and former workers employed by the operators of 15 residential skilled nursing, rehabilitation and assisted living facilities in western Pennsylvania that willfully denied them overtime pay.

July 29, 2024

US Department of Labor files suit to force Houston-area owner, operator of homes for people with special needs to pay overtime wages, damages

HOUSTON – The U.S. Department of Labor has asked a federal court in Houston to stop the owner and operator of 17 single-family residential group homes and a day habilitation center for adults with disabilities from violating several federal employment regulations and to pay dozens of current and former employees back wages they’re owed as well as damages.

July 29, 2024

Department of Labor finds appalling disregard of safety standards by building contractor in collapse of Boise airport hangar that killed 3 workers

BOISE, ID – A federal workplace safety investigation into the fatal injury of three workers and injuries to at least eight others, after an airport hangar collapsed near the Boise Airport in January 2024, found the building contractor ignored standard safety procedures and visible warning signs during construction.

July 29, 2024

Departamento de Trabajo recupera $129K en propinas, compensación para empleados de pizzería de Vancouver a los que se les negó pagas completas

Empleador:    Investier LLC, operando como Round Table Pizza

                             5016 NE Thurston Way

                             Vancouver, WA 98684

July 29, 2024

Department of Labor recovers $129K in tips, damages for employees deprived full earnings by Vancouver pizza franchise operator

Employer:      Investier LLC, operating as Round Table Pizza

                            5016 NE Thurston Way

                            Vancouver, WA 98684

July 29, 2024

Departamento de Trabajo recupera $475K para 32 empleados a los que dueño de Juan’s Flaming Fajitas & Cantina en Las Vegas no pagó sobretiempo

LAS VEGAS – El Departamento de Trabajo de EE.UU. ha recuperado $475,385 en salarios no pagados y compensación por daños del dueño de tres restaurantes Juan’s Flaming Fajitas & Cantina en Las Vegas y Henderson que no combinó las horas trabajadas por 32 empleados en más de una ubicación y negó inapropiadamente los salarios por sobretiempo ganados por los trabajadores.

July 29, 2024

US Department of Labor recovers $475K for 32 employees denied overtime wages by owner of Juan’s Flaming Fajitas & Cantina restaurants in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $475,385 in back wages and liquidated damages from the owner of three Juan’s Flaming Fajitas & Cantina restaurants in Las Vegas and Henderson who did not combine hours worked by 32 employees at more than one location and improperly withheld overtime wages earned by employees.

July 29, 2024

Chicago-area framing contractor continues to expose employees to deadly fall hazards as violations multiply, federal fines reach new heights

RIVER GROVE, IL – Two federal workplace safety investigations have found a Chicago-area framing contractor - already facing debt collection for more than $100,000 in fines for violations identified in 2022 - continuing to expose employees to deadly fall hazards and defying the U.S. Department of Labor’s requests for documents and information related to the contractor’s business and workers safety and health.

July 29, 2024

Department of Labor completed impact inspections at 15 mines with histories of repeated health, safety violations in June 2024

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that its Mine Safety and Health Administration completed impact inspections at 15 mines in 12 states in June 2024 and cited mine operators for 195 violations.

The agency began conducting impact inspections after an April 2010 explosion in West Virginia at the Upper Big Branch Mine killed 29 miners. 

July 25, 2024

US Department of Labor recovers $135K in back wages, damages for 57 employees denied overtime by Minnesota homecare provider

Employers:    Axis Home PCA Agency Inc. 

Cubtan Nur, owner                    

Action:           Consent judgment and order 

July 25, 2024

Federal cable, telecommunications contractor to pay $80K to resolve alleged hiring discrimination at Hauppauge, New York, facility

NEW YORK – The U.S. Department of Labor announced its Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs has entered into a conciliation agreement with a federal provider of cable and telecommunications services to resolve allegations of gender-based hiring discrimination at the company’s Hauppauge facilities.

July 25, 2024

Department of Labor, Office of the Trade Representative seek review of alleged labor rights denial at Impro Industries in San Luis Potosí

WASHINGTON – The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement’s Interagency Labor Committee for Monitoring and Enforcement today requested the Mexican government conduct a review at Impro Industries, a Chinese-owned parts manufacturer in San Luis Potosí, based on its finding that workers’ rights were denied at the facility.

The Secretary of Labor and U.S. Trade Representative co-chair the Interagency Labor Committee.

July 25, 2024

US Department of Labor investigation leads major maritime cargo shipping operator to change reporting policy for employees

NORFOLK, VA – As part of a settlement with the U.S. Department of Labor, Maersk Line Limited - one of the world’s largest marine cargo services providers - will change its safety reporting policies and compensate a seaman the company terminated after they reported safety concerns to the U.S. Coast Guard without first notifying their employer.