JACKSONVILLE, FL – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Desouza Framing Inc. for exposing employees to dangerous falls at two northwest Florida worksites. The Jacksonville-based residential framing contractor faces proposed penalties of $199,178.

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta issued the following statement regarding the April 2018 Employment Situation report:

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will hold its annual National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls May 7-11. The event encourages companies and workers to pause during the workday for topical discussions, safety demonstrations, and training in hazard recognition and fall prevention.

In the week ending April 28, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 211,000, an increase of 2,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 209,000. The 4-week moving average was 221,500, a decrease of 7,750 from the previous week's unrevised average of 229,250. This is the lowest level for this average since March 3, 1973 when it was 221,250.

Read the full news release.

BRADENTON, FL – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Premier Behavioral Health Solutions of Florida Inc. and UHS of Delaware Inc., the operators of Bradenton-based Suncoast Behavioral Health Center, for failing to protect employees from violence in the workplace. Proposed penalties total $71,137.

CONCORD, NH – The U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire has sentenced Kevin Corriveau, owner and operator of Kevin Corriveau Painting Inc. of Nashua, to six months imprisonment; two years of supervised release, post-imprisonment; and a $25,000 criminal fine for one count of obstruction of justice.

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – In a summary judgment, following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), the U.S. District Court in Western Michigan has found the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and the Kalamazoo Psychiatric Hospital interfered with an employee’s Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) entitlements and retaliated against him for taking protected leave. U.S. District Judge Paul L.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – IT employer Cloudwick Technologies Inc., based in Newark, California, will pay $173,044 to 12 employees for violations of the federal H-1B foreign labor certification program after an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD).

LANSDOWNE, PA – The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania has ordered Central Laundry Inc., owner George Rengepes and business operator Jimmy Rengepes to pay $239,269 in back wages, and an equal amount in liquidated damages to 21 employees following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD).

LEACHVILLE, AR – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Arkansas staff sourcing company Wallace, Rush, Schmidt Inc. (WRS) has paid $708,922 to settle overtime, minimum wage, and recordkeeping violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

WEST COVINA, CA – United States Auto Club Inc. (USAC), a Texas-based emergency roadside assistance provider for the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), will pay $649,996 to 29 employees for violations of federal contract provisions of the McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act (SCA) and the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act (CWHSSA) following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD). WHD determined that USAC owes the employees $377,512 in unpaid prevailing wages and $165,116 in required health and welfare benefits.

HEWITT, NJ - The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited roofing contractor John Prevete Framing LLC for exposing employees to safety hazards while performing residential demolition work at a Passaic County, New Jersey, site. OSHA proposed $221,343 in penalties.

CLARKSTON, MI – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Summit Properties & Development Co. Inc., based in Clarkston, Michigan, will pay a total of $137,237 in back wages and liquidated damages to 17 employees.

WHD investigators determined the general contractor misclassified some employees as independent contractors, and failed to pay them overtime when they worked more than 40 hours in a workweek.

CHICAGO, IL – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois has entered a judgment requiring Frank Eric Talbert to restore $64,704 in losses owed to The Proteus Group 401(k) Retirement Plan. Talbert served as the sole trustee to the Chicago architectural company’s retirement plan and was part owner and the primary manager of Proteus’s daily operations.

PHOENIX, AZ – After a June 2017 U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division (WHD) investigation found 69 Mexican guest workers living in a life-threatening housing encampment at an El Mirage farm, the U.S. District Court of Arizona in Phoenix has entered judgments against a grower and its recruiting agents for violations of the H-2A guest worker program.

DUNN, NC – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) has debarred Worldwide Staffing LLC from applying for H-2A certifications for three years following violations of the visa program’s requirements and a failure to pay back wages owed to employees. The company failed to reimburse employees for their inbound travel expenses from their home countries, as the law requires, and owed $58,458 in back wages to 200 employees. WHD assessed the staffing company a civil penalty of $17,309 because of the violations.

ALLEN PARK, MI – After a U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division (WHD) investigation, Michigan-based automotive tire and service retail chain Belle Tire has agreed to pay $342,926 in back wages to 1,207 employees at 100 locations in Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that the HIRE Vets Medallion Program Demonstration has reached its application goal, and the registration period is now closed. This November, the Department will recognize employers who qualified for the HIRE Vets Medallion Program Demonstration Award.

The program demonstration enabled up to 300 employers to apply and prepare those who registered for an account on the HIREVets.gov website.

BOYNTON BEACH, FL – Following a U.S. Department of Labor investigation, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida has sentenced Jeffrey Adedoyin Williams – an employee at a Florida addiction treatment center – to 12 months and one day in prison, one year of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment after Williams pleaded guilty to obstruction of a criminal healthcare investigation.

DALLAS, TX – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Association of Energy Service Companies (AESC) have renewed an alliance designed to help protect oil and gas well servicing industry employees.