WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration has announced improved procedures for plan sponsors who wish to obtain fiduciary relief for a service provider’s failure to comply with the department’s plan-level fee disclosure rule. http://webapps.dol.gov/FederalRegister/HtmlDisplay.aspx?DocId=26218&AgencyId=8&DocumentType=2

Partnership aims to increase employment of individuals with disabilities

SAN FRANCISCO ‒ The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration and the Montana Office of the Commissioner of Securities and Insurance will host a two-day health benefits laws compliance seminar in Billings, Mont., for small and mid-size employers, third-party administrators and insurers July 25 and 26. The seminar is designed to provide practical information, helpful tips and clarification regarding federal as well as state laws. The event is free, and interested parties are encouraged to register early.

FLORENCE, Ky. – In remarks today in Florence before representatives of several Midwest state aggregate associations, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health Joseph A. Main outlined a number of important initiatives and reforms his agency has undertaken over the last two years.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Railroad Administration have signed a memorandum of agreement to facilitate coordination and cooperation between agencies regarding the enforcement of the Federal Railroad Safety Act's whistleblower provision. The act protects railroad employees from retaliation when they report safety violations, or work-related personal injuries or illnesses.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of International Labor Affairs today announced a $6 million competitive solicitation for a cooperative agreement to combat child labor in the rubber-producing areas of Liberia.

Qualified applicants should focus on children who are engaged in or at risk of being involved in various forms of child labor in rubber-producing areas. Among other things, applicants must:

BOSTON – On behalf of its Mine Safety and Health Administration, the U.S. Department of Labor has filed complaints in U.S. district courts against mining companies in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire to collect $267,724 in unpaid civil penalties resulting from federal mine safety violations. The complaints also seek injunctions and cash performance bonds from each mine operator to guarantee that future penalties will be paid.

ARLINGTON, Va. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration has proposed $594,100 in fines to Manalapan Mining Co. Inc.'s P-1 Mine in Harlan County, Ky., for four violations. The proposed penalties were assessed as a result of an investigation into the June 2011 death of a miner who was fatally injured when a large section of rock fell from the underground coal mine's wall, or rib, and knocked him into a dolly.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration today announced that OSHA and BP Products North America Inc. have resolved 409 of the 439 citations issued by the agency in October 2009 for willful violations of OSHA's process safety management standard at BP's refinery in Texas City, Texas. Under the agreement, BP will pay $13,027,000 in penalties, and already has abated or will abate all existing violations by the end of 2012.

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA In the week ending July 7, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 350,000, a decrease of 26,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 376,000. The 4-week moving average was 376,500, a decrease of 9,750 from the previous week's revised average of 386,250.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.6 percent for the week ending June 30, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate.

CHICAGO – To resolve a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Labor, a federal judge in Chicago has signed a consent order between the United Employee Benefit Fund in Northbrook and the secretary of labor to amend the United Employee Benefit Fund’s governing documents so that they comply with requirements of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and the Internal Revenue Code.

Agreement provides record back wage amount for H-2A program, plus $500,000 penalty

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Yerington, Nev.-based onion grower Peri & Sons has agreed to pay a record total of $2,338,700 in back wages to 1,365 workers, along with a civil money penalty of $500,000, for violations under the H-2A program.

U.S. Department of Labor Administrative Law Judge Steven Berlin in San Francisco signed the order granting the consent findings.

WASHINGTON – Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis issued the following statement on the June 2012 Employment Situation report released today:

"Our nation's labor market added 80,000 jobs in the month of June, while the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 8.2 percent.

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA In the week ending June 30, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 374,000, a decrease of 14,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 388,000. The 4-week moving average was 385,750, a decrease of 1,500 from the previous week's revised average of 387,250.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.6 percent for the week ending June 23, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate.

ARLINGTON, Va. ‒ The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association agreed to restore $27,272,727 to three association-sponsored employee benefit plans covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. This agreement follows an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration that found the association selected itself as a service provider to the plans, determined its own compensation and made payments to itself that exceeded NRECA’s direct expenses in providing services to the plans, in violation of ERISA.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today awarded 90 grants totaling more than $20 million to fund job training and support services that will help more than 11,000 veterans succeed in civilian careers. The grants are being awarded through the department's Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a $12,193,752 National Emergency Grant supplement that will fund nearly 1,400 temporary jobs for eligible dislocated workers to assist with ongoing cleanup and recovery efforts following the severe storms and floods that struck southeastern Ohio between April 4 and May 15, 2011.

WASHINGTON The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a $5 million National Emergency Grant incremental award that will fund temporary jobs to assist with continuing cleanup and recovery efforts in New York in the wake of damage caused by Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee in 2011.

ARLINGTON, Va. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration once again will focus its annual mine roof control program on efforts to improve mine rib control during the 2012 Preventive Roof Rib Outreach Program, known as PROP. For the second consecutive year, in 2011, fatal rib roll accidents in underground coal mines outnumbered more typical fatal roof fall accidents. Most recently, on June 25, a coal miner in eastern Kentucky suffered fatal injuries when he was crushed by a rib roll.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today awarded a total of $12,096,172 in grants to nine nonprofit organizations across the country to provide critical employment and support services for previously incarcerated female adults and youth as they make the transition back into their communities.