GLENDALE, AZ – The U.S. Department of Labor is currently distributing more than $700,000 in back wages and damages to 470 employees, recovered from a Glendale plastering company following an investigation and lawsuit related to the employer’s pay practices.

CLEVELAND – A 51-year-old painting contractor at a residential apartment complex in Cleveland stepped onto a third-floor balcony and it tilted suddenly, causing him to fall 21 feet onto the concrete below. As he lay injured, the balcony slid off its wall mount and landed on top of the painter. He died from his injuries.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the appointment of five members and leadership for the 2023 Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans, also known as the ERISA Advisory Council.

The 15-member council provides advice on policies and regulations affecting employee benefit plans governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974.

ALBANY, NY – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $166,832 for 53 employees of a Little Falls roofing contractor to resolve overtime and recordkeeping violations found by investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division.

ATLANTA – Professionals from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration are participating in the 2023 Atlanta Construction Ready Career Expo – geared toward students  from Georgia’s middle, high and tech schools – to highlight the importance of on-the-job safety to the industry’s next generation of workers.

WASHINGTON – The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement’s Interagency Labor Committee for Monitoring and Enforcement today requested a review by the government of Mexico after receiving an allegation that workers’ rights are being denied at the Unique Fabricating facility in Querétaro, Mexico.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh joined leaders from North America’s Building Trades Unions, the National Urban League and graduates of pre-apprenticeship programs in construction and construction-related industries to discuss how Registered Apprenticeship programs can train the future workforce to help fill jobs in critical sectors.

PLOVER, WI ‒ At a Plover, Wisconsin, Del Monte Foods cannery, a 20-year-old seasonal worker suffered a partial amputation of their finger after attempting to unjam an unguarded palletizer machine, a federal workplace safety investigation found.

BOSTON – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment and order prohibiting a Somerville, Massachusetts, restaurant and its owner from retaliating against employees who cooperate in the department’s efforts to enforce the Fair Labor Standards Act. Fakhouri Inc. – operating as Sound Bites Café – and Yasser Mirza must also pay $15,000 in punitive damages to the affected current and former employees in connection with the department’s retaliation claim.

WESTBURY, NY – Federal workplace safety inspectors have cited a thermometer manufacturer for overexposing their employees to mercury at its West Babylon facility.

LAFAYETTE, GA – A 21-year-old line operator at a LaFayette, Georgia, insulation manufacturer suffered severe head trauma after being caught in a machine’s roller. A U.S. Department of Labor investigation determined that the employer willfully ignored federal workplace safety standards.

LOUISVILLE, KY – A federal court in Kentucky has sentenced the co-founder of several phony medical clinics in Louisville and Atlanta, who pleaded guilty to one felony count, after the U.S. Department of Labor found the operators collected $258,000 from 15 self-funded healthcare benefit programs for services they never provided.

NEW YORK – A federal court has ordered a Brewster home care provider to stop retaliating against employees in an effort to obstruct a U.S. Department of Labor investigation into the employers’ pay practices.

Participants:      U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational

                                  Safety and Health Administration

                                  American Society of Safety Professionals, East Texas Chapter

In the week ending February 25, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 190,000, a decrease of 2,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 192,000. The 4-week moving average was 193,000, an increase of 1,750 from the previous week's unrevised average of 191,250. 

WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh issued the following statement on President Biden’s announcement of his intent to nominate Julie Su as the next secretary of labor:

“I am grateful to President Biden for announcing his intent to nominate my dear friend and colleague, Deputy Secretary Julie Su, to succeed me as U.S. Secretary of Labor. 

WASHINGTON – With meaningful employment secured, formerly incarcerated people can fully integrate into their communities more successfully and avoid relapse. To help remove barriers to employment the U.S. Department of Labor today announces the availability of $48 million in funding to provide training and employment services to incarcerated individuals before their release from state correctional facilities, or county or local jails.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a $25 million funding opportunity for organizations to provide training and employment services to help veterans combat homelessness.

ATLANTA- Con un incremento de casi $1,000,000 en salarios atrasados recuperados en el sudeste para los trabajadores de la industria agrícola en 2022, la División de Horas y Salarios del Departamento de Trabajo de EE. UU. continúa su iniciativa de varios años para educar a los empleadores de la industria sobre el cumplimiento, y a los trabajadores sobre sus protecciones legales según la ley.

Employer:                                   North Sunflower Medical Center

Investigation site:                  840 N. Oak Ave.