LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles World Airports – owner and operator of Los Angeles International and Van Nuys airports – has made sweeping changes to its employee medical leave request system to address failures that led to long delays, invalid disciplinary personnel actions and violations of the Family and Medical Leave Act found in a U.S. Department of Labor investigation.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced today that it has scheduled the eighth annual National Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction for May 3-7, 2021. OSHA encourages construction employers and other stakeholders to join the event to promote awareness and training to address one of the industry’s most serious dangers.

CANTON, OH – Three stories above ground, five workers moved unsteadily atop a Canton apartment building, all of them at risk of a serious or fatal fall because, once again, their employer failed to ensure they used required safety equipment to protect them from falling. Ivan Lowky – their employer – was also working on the roof without necessary fall protection despite having the equipment available.

WEST FARMINGTON, OH – A 14-year-old boy working on the roof of a Berea townhome without required fall protection suffered critical injuries when he fell 20-feet to the ground. Immediately following this serious incident, the company’s owner and three other workers put on personal fall arrest equipment to complete the roofing work in an apparent attempt to conceal the fact that fall protection was not in use at the time of the injury.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced additional funding of $1,767,172 to the Government of Guam’s Department of Administration to respond to the workforce needs resulting from the coronavirus pandemic.

WASHINGTON, DC – A young Ethiopian girl dreamt of finishing school to become a health worker in her village. She was 13 when her father died, forcing her to leave school and enter the fields to pick coffee to help her family. During long days of work, she harvests, washes and sorts coffee cherries – exposed to sharp objects, pesticides and other hazardous chemicals – with her health and her future at risk.

WASHINGTON – For many of America’s workers, choosing between unsafe employment and refusing work to avoid the risk of coronavirus infection has serious consequences. Too often, those who do not return to work or accept a job offer over concerns about workplace exposure lose their state unemployment benefits.

PENSACOLA, FL – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has signed a strategic partnership with Brasfield & Gorrie to promote worker safety and health at the Baptist Health Care Corp.’s Brent Lane Hospital project in Pensacola. The University of South Florida On-Site Safety and Health Consultation Program will also support this effort.

SIOUX FALLS, SD – To combat the dangers workers face in trenching operations, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the South Dakota State University Engineering Extension Program and the South Dakota One Call Notification Board signed an alliance on Feb. 19, 2021, to train workers on excavation hazards.

In the week ending February 20, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 730,000, a decrease of 111,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised down by 20,000 from 861,000 to 841,000. The 4-week moving average was 807,750, a decrease of 20,500 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised down by 5,000 from 833,250 to 828,250.

PHOENIX, AZ – The U.S. Department of Labor wants to hear from current and former employees of a Tempe stucco and plastering contractor as part of long-running investigation and lawsuit over continuous and egregious alleged overtime and recordkeeping violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

CHICAGO – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Consulate General of Ecuador in Chicago have signed a two-year alliance to promote workplace safety and health, and share information on U.S. laws and standards, including those relating to workers’ rights and employers’ responsibilities under the Occupational Safety and Health Act.

GRANDVIEW, MO – Two machine operators at a Grandview auto parts manufacturer who jointly operated a press tested positive for the coronavirus just two days apart, in late August 2020. The two workers typically labored for hours at a time less than two feet apart; neither wore a protective facial mask consistently. Ten days later, two more workers operating similar presses together tested positive. On Sept. 19, 2020, one of the press operators fell victim to the virus and died.

COLUMBUS, OH – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has conferred Alliance Program Ambassador status on Buckeye Service, Transmission, Exploration and Production Safety Network in recognition of the organization’s collaborative relationship with OSHA and its commitment to addressing safety and health hazards in Ohio’s oil and gas industry.

DETROIT – Under terms of a consent order and judgement entered in federal court, the fiduciaries of Deliver Dental Solutions Inc. 401(k) Plan and Trust have agreed to restore $42,488 to the Detroit-based employee benefit plan.

DALLAS – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division will host a two-day virtual event from March 3-4, 2021, to provide guidance on federal requirements governing agricultural employment to growers, farmers, shippers, contractors, farm labor contractors, buyers and agricultural workers in the agency’s Southwest region.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that its Occupational Safety and Health Administration is now overseeing worker retaliation complaints filed under two new whistleblower statutes – the Criminal Antitrust Anti-Retaliation Act and the Anti-Money Laundering Act.

DEDEDO, GUAM – By deliberately misclassifying employees as independent contractors, a Dededo construction company attempted to avoid paying overtime when workers exceeded 40 hours in a workweek until a federal investigation uncovered the scheme.

MYRTLE BEACH, SC – While the operator of six South Carolina ice cream franchise locations sold customers frozen treats, a federal investigation has gotten 61 workers their just desserts – a total of $16,250 in back wages – for the employer’s failure to pay overtime at six Myrtle Beach locations.

ST. PAUL – Twin Cities’ area shoppers know about Supermercado Lomabonita’s five locations, but they may not know that a recent U.S. Department of Labor investigation found the grocer failed to pay overtime to its cooks, butchers, bakers and cashiers as required by law.