KANSAS CITY, KS – The U.S. Department of Labor has filed suit against the owner of two Kansas restaurants who allegedly denied minimum and overtime wages to kitchen staff, servers, hosts and food runners after some worked as many as 66 hours per week.

Date of Action:          March 13, 2023

Type of Action:         Fair Labor Standards Act consent order and judgment

Company/Owners:    GEM Interiors Inc., Milford, Ohio

MORRISTOWN, TN – A U.S. Department of Labor child labor investigation has found that the operator of a McDonald’s franchise location in Morristown assigned a 15-year-old employee – who suffered hot oil burns while using a deep fryer – to perform tasks considered hazardous for young workers.

In the week ending March 18, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 191,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 192,000. The 4-week moving average was 196,250, a decrease of 250 from the previous week's unrevised average of 196,500.

CARLSBAD, CA – A federal investigation has recovered $465,993 in back wages and liquidated damages for 44 employees of a California medical injection molding manufacturer who denied them their legally earned wages, including overtime, by incorrectly classifying many as trainees.

LOS ANGELES – A survey of Southern California garment-sewing contractors and manufacturers by the U.S. Department of Labor has found workers making garments sold by many of the nation’s leading fashion retailers often continue to be victims of wage theft and employers’ illegal pay practices.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that its Employee Benefits Security Administration will reopen the public comment period on the proposed amendment to Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 84-14 – also known as the Qualified Professional Asset Manager Exemption – until April 6, 2023, to gather additional comments.

Employer:  Force Construction Company Inc., Columbus, Indiana

Investigation findings:  U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigators recovered $46,125 in back wages for 35 employees after evaluating the company’s pay practices on 10 government contracts.

Employer:  Ameritalia LLC, operating as Coco’s Italian Market and Restaurants                                                           

NEW CASTLE, PA – A federal investigation into why a 17-year-old worker – who fell 24 feet from the roof of a New Castle, Pennsylvania, home improvement store in October 2022 – was doing work that violated child labor laws led to a wider review into how the roofing contractor failed to pay 30 employees their full wages and exposed other workers to dangerous fall hazards.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor has requested that a federal court in Vermont allow the department to intervene and seek the court’s dismissal of a counterclaim that Bimbo Bakeries USA Inc. – one of the nation’s largest baking companies – has asserted against its own workers who are seeking the overtime compensation that they are allegedly owed.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor announced that its Occupational Safety and Health Administration has certified the completion of all structural and developmental aspects of Maine’s State Plan for protecting the safety and health of state and local government workers.

SAN DIEGO - En su esfuerzo continuo por combatir los abusos hacia los trabajadores extranjeros por parte de las industrias de logística y almacenamiento en el sur de California, el Departamento de Trabajo de EE. UU. ha recuperado $1.1 millones de dos empresas que operan en la zona de San Diego (Freig Carrillo Forwarding Inc. y ACV Logistics Inc.) para 50 ciudadanos mexicanos a quienes solo se les pagaba $2.43 por hora.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $633,029 in back wages for 84 workers denied their full wages and benefits by subcontractors involved in construction of an affordable housing development funded by the District of Columbia.

Employer name:                   Amazing Grace PCA LLC

Investigation site:                7321 Bullard Ave.

                                                          Orleans, LA 70128

WASHINGTON – The U.S.

SAN DIEGO – In its continuing effort to combat labor abuses of foreign workers in Southern California’s logistics and warehousing industries, the U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $1.1 million from two companies operating in the San Diego area – Freig Carrillo Forwarding Inc. and ACV Logistics Inc. – for 50 Mexican nationals, some paid as little as $2.43 an hour.

NEW YORK – The U.S. Department of Labor has filed suit asking a federal court to stop a Brooklyn, New York, healthcare staffing provider from allegedly making employees sign contracts that would force them to work for the company for three years or repay rightfully earned wages.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that it will open its online tool for federal contractors and subcontractors to certify their compliance with annual federal affirmative action program requirements.