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.

ALTUS, Okla. - The U.S. Department of Labor has sued the owner of defunct Quartz Mountain Aerospace Inc., which operated in Altus, Okla., and Coffeeville, Kan., for misusing assets of the company's welfare benefit plan to benefit himself and the company.

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.

MIAMI - The U.S. Department of Labor has sued Windjammer Barefoot Cruises Ltd. and its fiduciaries to restore $24,655.77 to the company's 401(k) retirement plan for the benefit of plan participants and beneficiaries. Windjammer Barefoot Cruises provided leisure cruises until 2007 and was based in Miami Beach, Fla.

The lawsuit follows an investigation by the department's Employee Benefits Security Administration into alleged violations of 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.

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.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - The U.S. Department of Labor has sued Hensley Engineering Group LLC of Albuquerque and its president, Lisa Hensley, for misusing assets of $48,528.30 in employee contributions owed to the company's 401(k) plan to benefit themselves.

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.

FRANKLIN, Tenn. - The U.S. Department of Labor is suing defunct homebuilder Corinthian Custom Homes Inc. and its fiduciaries to restore losses suffered by participants and beneficiaries of the company's 401(k) retirement plan.

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.

SEATTLE - Kirkland, Wash.-based Kineticsware Inc. and executives of the company were sued by the U.S. Department of Labor for allegedly failing to timely remit employee and matching employer contributions to the company's 401(k) plan.

Office of Personnel Management and other federal agencies discuss steps taken toward hiring reforms, simplified application process for job candidates

DETROIT — High schools and junior high schools in Michigan will receive valuable information this week from the U.S. Department of Labor about state and federal work rules designed to keep teens safe at work and productive at school.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Employee Benefits Security Administration Phyllis C. Borzi will hold a conference call with members of the media on Nov. 16, to discuss a nationwide enforcement initiative to protect the retirement and health benefits of workers. The employee contributions initiative protects contributions deducted from workers’ paychecks by ensuring that the funds are deposited into their plans in order to pay future benefits.

ARLINGTON, Va. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced that it will hold six public hearings on the proposed rule "Lowering Miners' Exposure to Respirable Coal Mine Dust, Including Continuous Personal Dust Monitors." The notice will be available in the Federal Register on Nov. 15. The proposed rule was published Oct.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today launched an online system for filing Trade Adjustment Assistance petitions. The department expects that the online tool will become the primary means by which TAA petitions are received, but the options to mail or fax a hard copy version of the petition remain available.

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA In the week ending Nov. 6, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 435,000, a decrease of 24,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 459,000. The 4-week moving average was 446,500, a decrease of 10,000 from the previous week's revised average of 456,500.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.4 percent for the week ending Oct. 30, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's revised rate of 3.5 percent.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics today announced that the number of reported nonfatal occupational injury and illness cases that required days away from work to recuperate decreased by nine percent to 1,238,490 cases in 2009 for private industry, state government and local government. Additionally, BLS reported that the total incidence rate decreased by 5 percent to 117 cases per 10,000 full-time workers.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor has announced a $1,160,391 National Emergency Grant award to assist clean-up and recovery efforts following three days of severe storms and flooding that struck Minnesota this past September.

WASHINGTON — Deputy Undersecretary of Labor Sandra Polaski today issued the following statement clarifying the U.S. Department of Labor's position on the use of child labor and forced labor in carpet production in India: