WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor and its partners from the Interagency Task Force to Combat Child Labor Exploitation today announced its recent actions to hold companies accountable for violating federal child labor laws.

In the week ending July 22, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 221,000, a decrease of 7,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 228,000. The 4-week moving average was 233,750, a decrease of 3,750 from the previous week's unrevised average of 237,500.

AUSTIN, TX – A federal investigation has found that, despite more than $21 million in penalties since 2017 for workplace safety failures, Dollar General continued to expose employees at an Austin store on East Rundberg Lane to the risks of blocked exits and fire extinguishers not maintained or mounted as required.

ALBANY, NY – A federal investigation has recovered $178,372 in back wages and damages for eight workers employed by the owner and operator of a gas station, convenience store and Subway franchise in New York who denied them their legally earned minimum and overtime wages.

WESTFIELD, IL ‒ A 43-year-old employee at a Westfield grain elevator found himself trapped for five hours in February 2023 as co-workers and emergency responders worked to remove hundreds of pounds of soybeans to pull him out. Thankfully, the worker suffered only minor injuries.

WASHINGTON – Acting U.S. Secretary of Labor Julie Su released the following statement after a tentative labor agreement was reached today between leaders of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and UPS: 

SALT LAKE CITY - El Departamento de Trabajo de EE. UU.

SALT LAKE CITY – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $502,609 in back wages and liquidated damages for 148 people employed by one of Utah’s largest Asian grocers after the agency filed suit to stop the employer from interfering with an investigation into employer’s compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Employer:                              Extermco LLC, operating as Extermco Pest Control

Employer:      Family Food Co. Inc.

                        1043 Opakapaka St.

                        Kapolei, HI 96707

Employer:     
Jimmy Carter’s Mexican Café LLC
3172 Fifth Ave.
San Diego, CA 92103 

HARTFORD, CT – A federal court has entered a consent judgment and order requiring six Connecticut restaurants and their owners to pay a total of $858,191 in back wages and liquidated damages to 105 employees after an investigation and litigation by the U.S. Department of Labor.

The restaurants are located in Darien, Fairfield, Greenwich, New Canaan, New Haven and Westport.

DALLAS – Federal investigations at 16 McDonald’s franchise locations in Louisiana and Texas have found child labor violations affecting 83 minors, the Department of Labor announced today.

Employer name: Morris-Pace Assisted Living Inc., operating as Morris-Pace Personal Care Home, and located at 416 Reading Ave., Reading, Pennsylvania 19611

Court action: Consent judgment obtained on July 3, 2023, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania by the Department of Labor.

JACKSONVILLE, FL – A federal workplace safety investigation found a Jacksonville psychiatric health and substance disorder facility did not follow safety procedures, leaving workers vulnerable to injuries, including one who a patient reportedly kicked in the face.

WASHINGTON – The departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and the Treasury today announced an important step in addressing the nation’s mental health crisis by proposing rules to better ensure that people seeking coverage for mental health and substance use disorder care can access treatment as easily as people seeking coverage for medical treatments.

Participants:  U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration

                              Cardinal IG Waxahachie

SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $373,471 in back wages and damages for 23 caregivers after an investigation found a Bay Area staffing agency denied overtime wages to workers, some of whom worked 12 to 16 hours a day.

BRAINTREE, MA – When U.S. Department of Labor inspectors returned to a Boston food plant in March 2023, they discovered the plant’s operator — Chinese Spaghetti Factory Inc. — still had not installed required safety guards on a dumpling machine’s rotating shafts, a dangerous hazard for which the company was cited for after an employee suffered serious injuries in 2022.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced an incremental award of $8,333,334 to the Commonwealth of Kentucky to support continued disaster-relief employment and employment and training services after tornadoes in December 2021 and severe flooding in July 2022.