WASHINGTON – Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis today issued the following statement regarding the increased enforcement and outreach efforts of the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division:

"Protecting worker rights is my top priority at the Department of Labor. It's not a slogan. It's a commitment that I have made to ensure workers receive all the protections that the law promises, and that no employer gains an unfair advantage by cheating workers out of their rightfully earned wages.

ATLANTA —Following an investigation, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division is assessing J&R Baker Farms LLC $1,311,644 in back wages owed to 244 workers and $136,500 in fines for violating provisions of the H-2A temporary agricultural worker program.

The department’s Office of the Solicitor has filed a request with the department’s Office of Administrative Law Judges to hold a hearing to enforce the department’s findings against the Ellenton, Ga., agricultural employer.

WASHINGTON – Pursuant to a requirement imposed by the Pension Protection Act of 2006, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration today announced a proposed rule to implement the annual funding notice requirement under section 101(f) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced initial funding allocations for Trade Adjustment Assistance for states to assist workers who lose their jobs due to outsourcing and foreign trade.

WASHINGTON – Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis today issued the following statement after the Senate's failure to invoke cloture (by a margin of 58 to 41) on S. 3772 – the Paycheck Fairness Act:

NEW YORK – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a judgment against trustee Samuel Kohl and default judgments against trustee Caren Kohl and Welko Inc. of New York City as fiduciaries of the Welko Inc. Pension Plan, permanently barring them from serving in a fiduciary capacity to any employee benefit plan covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the findings of a multi-year study of the impact of the Unemployment Insurance program in stabilizing the economy during a deep recession. The study was commissioned by the department and undertaken by IMPAQ International LLC and the Urban Institute.

BOSTON – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued Fathalla M. Mashali, owner and president of the now defunct Northern Rhode Island Anesthesia Associates P.C. and its subsidiaries, for failing to forward more than $6 million in contributions plus interest owed to the company’s pension plan, in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. The company operated subsidiaries throughout Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration today announced a series of enforcement actions to protect more than $7 million for workers in retirement plans or health plans governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

OCALA, Fla. - The U.S. Department of Labor has sued the defunct Triple T Construction Inc. and its owner, George Thompson III, to restore assets to the former company's 401(k) plan for the benefit of plan participants and beneficiaries.

AUSTIN, Texas - The U.S. Department of Labor sued the chief financial officer and husband of the owner of bankrupt TLS Vets P.A., located in Austin, for misusing 401(k) profit sharing assets to benefit himself and the veterinary clinic.

LEXINGTON, S.C. – The U.S. Department of Labor is suing the former Rogers Steel Co. and its owner to restore losses suffered by participants and beneficiaries of the company’s savings incentive match plan for employees individual retirement account, or SIMPLE IRA plan. Rogers Steel Co. was a steel fabricator located in Lexington.

MT. HOREB, Wis. – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued Mt. Horeb Plumbing Inc. and its owner and president, Michael D. O’Connell, for failing to make $30,120.65 in contributions and for untimely remitting $49,235.15 to the company’s employee 401(k) plan in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

DALLAS - The U.S. Department of Labor has sued Paralegals Plus Inc. in Dallas and its chief executive officer for failure to remit employee contributions and plan assets to the company's savings incentive match plan for employees individual retirement account, or SIMPLE IRA plan and for using the plan's assets to benefit the company, in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

CHARLESTON, S.C. - The U.S. Department of Labor has sued Charleston, S.C.-based Wappoo Service Heating and Air Conditioning and its president, Perry Miles, to restore $44,250.34 in losses suffered by participants and beneficiaries of the company's savings incentive match plan for employees individual retirement account, or SIMPLE IRA plan. The lawsuit followed an investigation by the department's Employee Benefits Security Administration into alleged violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

TUCSON, Ariz. - The U.S. Department of Labor has sued a former Tucson company and its owner for failing to protect the interests of the participants in the company's 401(k) profit sharing plan. In the suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, the Labor Department is seeking repayment of at least $2,000 in employee salary reductions, plus lost opportunity costs from defunct Sonora Environmental LLC and its former owner and president, Lee Jolley.

SPARTA, Wis. – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued Quality Tool and Machine Inc. of Sparta and the company’s president, Jerry Freimuth, for allegedly failing to forward $9,672 in employee contributions to the company’s savings incentive match plan for employees individual retirement account, or SIMPLE IRA plan, in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

PASADENA, Calif. – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued a former Anaheim, Calif., mechanical subcontractor and its president to restore approximately $16,000 owed to the company’s savings incentive match plan for employees individual retirement account, or SIMPLE IRA plan.

SOUTH JORDAN, Utah - The U.S. Department of Labor sued Fooptube LLC of South Jordan, and its owner, David Rushton, for failing to forward delinquent employee contributions owed to the company's 401(k) profit sharing plan in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

SARASOTA, Fla. - The U.S. Department of Labor has sued Florida Family Magazine and its owner, Mary Elizabeth Winkle, to restore employer and employee assets owed to the company's savings incentive match plan for employees individual retirement account, or SIMPLE IRA plan, for the benefit of plan participants and beneficiaries.