WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor today announced that it has paid more than $1 billion to 8,926 individuals under Part E of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA). Part E of the act was created as an amendment to the EEOICPA in October 2004 to alleviate the delay claimants were experiencing under the old Part D program administered by the U.S. Department of Energy. The Labor Department was charged with implementation of Part E.

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WASHINGTON —In January 2008, the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) marked its 5,000th indictment since recordkeeping began in 1964. During January, OLMS obtained eight convictions, nine indictments and court orders of restitution totaling $121,867. The office's totals for fiscal year 2008 (which began on Oct. 1, 2007), including previously unreported indictments and convictions from prior months, now stand at 36 convictions, 47 indictments and court-ordered restitution of $877,212.

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Kansas City, Missouri – The U.S. Department of Labor filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas to appoint an independent fiduciary to oversee the abandoned 401(k) plan of defunct Professional Resources Inc., a technology consulting company in Overland Park, Kansas.

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Washington - The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) today released a Field Assistance Bulletin (FAB) 2008-02, which provides guidance to the agency’s national and regional offices on the department’s final wellness program rules.

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Bedford, Ohio – The U.S. Department of Labor has filed suit in federal district court in Cleveland, asking the court to appoint an independent fiduciary to terminate the Preferred Mortgage Group 401(k) plan so that assets can be distributed to plan participants.

Resource centers offer new services to energy workers

Department seeks to update regulations, implement new FMLA leave law for military caregivers

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor will publish a proposal on Feb. 11 to update its regulations under the 15-year-old Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) — a measure that will help workers and their employers better understand their rights and responsibilities, and speed the implementation of a new law that expands FMLA coverage for certain military family members.

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Washington — The U.S. Department of Labor today announced that it has asked a federal district court in Houston, Texas, to hold Hewitt Associates LLC in civil contempt for failing to comply with an allocation formula approved by the court when it disbursed court-supervised settlement funds to Enron employees at the end of 2006. The proposed motion for civil contempt must be approved by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

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WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao has called upon nonprofit organizations, small businesses, corporations and individuals that have demonstrated exemplary and innovative efforts in advancing the employment and workplace environment of people with disabilities to submit entries for the 2008 Secretary of Labors New Freedom Initiative Award.

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Fort Wright, Kentucky – The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky to remove Woodford Memorial Hospital Inc. as the fiduciary of the hospital’s retirement and thrift plan.

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Atlanta – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment and order in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia requiring Marc Meixner to restore $509,624 to the Georgia Plumbers Trade Association Health Plan.

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Minneapolis – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued the owner of Duke’s Body Shop in Crystal, Minnesota, for allegedly retaining employee contributions owed to the company’s savings incentive match plan for employees individual retirement account (SIMPLE IRA) to pay the operating expenses of the company. Duke’s Body Shop is a commercial auto body repair shop.

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Columbus, Ohio – The U.S. Department of Labor has reached agreement with John P. Verhoff and Aaron K. Gaynor, officers of Precise Mechanicals Inc., Columbus, to restore employee contributions to the company-sponsored 401(k) plan.

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San Antonio – A free health law compliance assistance seminar for employers, plan fiduciaries and plan services providers, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) and the Texas Department of Insurance, will take place February 27 and 28 at the AmeriSuites Riverwalk located at 601 S. St. Mary’s in San Antonio.

OLMS also obtained eight indictments and more than $202,000 in court orders of restitution

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — The U.S. Department of Labor today launched a new $4 million project to support public-private partnerships in the Dominican Republic aimed at preventing hazardous child labor.

"This project will make the dream of schooling a reality for thousands of children in need and help break the cycle of poverty," said U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. "As a direct result of U.S. Department of Labor initiatives, more than one million children worldwide have been rescued from exploitive child labor."

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Troy, Michigan – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued Fifth Third Bank, an Ohio corporation and advisor to the Operating Engineers Local 324 Pension Fund in Troy, Michigan, to recover plan losses suffered when the defendants mismanaged the sale of property owned by the fund.

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Dublin, Ohio – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued executives of American Systems Consulting Inc. in Dublin for improperly using 401(k) assets for the benefit of the company in violation of the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).