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.

In the week ending February 13, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 861,000, an increase of 13,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 55,000 from 793,000 to 848,000. The 4-week moving average was 833,250, a decrease of 3,500 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 13,750 from 823,000 to 836,750. 

OAK GROVE, MO – Barely two years after Arrow Plumbing LLC agreed to adopt a comprehensive trench safety program following the December 2016 death of an employee in an unprotected trench, federal inspectors responding to a complaint in August 2020 found another of the company’s employees working at least 7-feet below ground in an unprotected trench in Grain Valley.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced several actions designed to accelerate apprenticeship expansion as it considers halting the duplicative apprenticeship system that may reduce quality, strip protections for apprentices and cause confusion for industry.

HAGATNA, GUAM – Forty-three workers left the Philippines, traveling 1,550 miles to Guam through a federal temporary work visa program. While working at various construction sites on Guam, their employer willfully withheld their hard-earned overtime pay. Once the U.S. Department of Labor investigated, these workers received all of the wages they had earned.

BILLINGS, MT – When OSHA inspectors arrived at Western Bee Supply Inc. in Polson to investigate a recent incident that resulted in a partial finger amputation, they found a workplace with unguarded saw blades, rotating machinery, belts, pulleys and chains.

IRVINE, CA – An Irvine supermarket has paid $51,430 in back wages owed to 56 workers after the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found violations of the overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

SOMERSET, NJ – For many landscaping industry workers, long days and hard work are the norm. For 12 workers of a Somerset landscaping contractor that failed to pay overtime when workweeks exceeded 40 hours, getting all of their hard-earned wages was almost as strenuous.

HAGATNA, GUAM – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division is asking businesses in Guam’s building, heavy, highway and residential construction industries to complete a survey to help the agency establish prevailing wage rates, as required under the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts.