Funding Recipient: National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago

Total Funding: $3 million

Purpose: Implement a project to assess and measure progress in reducing child labor in cocoa-growing communities of Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana

Location: Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana

Territory: Guam

Type of Award: National Dislocated Worker Grant incremental

Incremental Amount Released: $2,174,453

Total Award Amount Approved: $2,722,641

Funding Awarded to: Guam Agency for Human Resources Development

Number of Workers Served: Approximately 215

Employer: Salinas Inc.

Site: 1537 E. McFadden Avenue, Suite G, Santa Ana, California 92705

Date of Action: Dec. 3, 2015

Type of Action: Consent Judgment & Order

Name(s) of Defendant: Stewart Environmental Consultants LLC in Fort Collins, Colorado, and owner David Stewart

Date of Action: Dec. 3, 2015           

Type of Action: Consent judgment

Name(s) of Defendant(s): NW Systems Inc., NW Systems Inc. 401(k) profit-sharing plan and trust, and Nathan Williams

Allegations: Based on an investigation conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration, the Secretary of Labor filed a complaint on Jan. 7, 2015, alleging the following:

WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez issued the following statement about the November 2015 Employment Situation report released today:

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation today released advance informational copies of the 2015 Form 5500 annual return/report and related instructions.  The “Changes to Note” section of the 2015 instructions highlight important modifications to the Form 5500 and Form 5500-SF:

Employers: Able Industries of the Pacific, Inc.

Sites: Formerly located at 341 South Marine Corps Drive, Jay Ease Building Suite 204, in Tamuning, Guam. (Business has closed)

Investigation findings: Able Industries failed to pay legally required health and welfare benefits to hundreds of employees who provided dining, janitorial and maintenance services at several facilities at Anderson Air Force Base and Naval Base Guam from 2011 to 2013 in violation of the Service Contract Act.

Employer name: Symrise Inc., a flavoring and fragrance manufacturer, is located at 172 Industrial Parkway in Branchburg, New Jersey.

Citations issued: On Dec. 1, 2015, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations for two willful and ten serious violations.

Employer name: Anrich Inc., 1271 South Gulph Road in Wayne, Pennsylvania. The company primarily does utility construction and water and sewer pipeline construction.

Employer name: Merit Construction Services Inc., Farmington, Minnesota.

Citations received: Dec. 2, 2015

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Milwaukee Area Office cited the Minnesota-based concrete company for one willful, and three serious safety violations.

Employer name: Portersville Sales & Testing Inc., is a gas tubes and truck trailer manufacturing company located at 1406 Perry Highway in Portersville, Pennsylvania. The company's corporate headquarters is located in Amarillo, Texas.

Citations issued: On Dec. 2, 2015, the Department of Labor's Occupationa1Safety and Health Administration's Pittsburgh Area Office issued citations for 15 serious safety and health violations.

Employer name: NSC Technologies Inc.

Investigation site: 2601 Government St., Mobile, Alabama 36606

Employer name: Custom Metal Roofing Inc., doing business as B&M Metals

Investigation site: 603 Major Abercrombie Circle, Murrayville, Georgia 30564

Employer: Grassroots Kitchen and Tap #1, LLC, Grassroots Kitchen and Tap #2, LLC and Twisted Grove #1, LLC

Sites: Grassroots Kitchen and Tap #1 (8120 N. Hayden, Scottsdale, Arizona 85258); Grassroots Kitchen and Tap #2 (2119 East Camelback Road, Phoenix, Arizona 85016); and Twisted Grove Parlor and Bar (8220 N. Hayden Road, Scottsdale, Arizona 85258)

BATAVIA, Ill. — Falls were the leading cause of death for construction workers last year, accounting for nearly 40 percent of construction fatalities. Yet, federal inspectors recently saw Batavia roofing contractors working on a residential framing project without fall protection.

Date of action: Nov. 15, 2015

Type of action: Complaint and request for jury trial

Names of defendants: Eastern Awning Systems Inc. and Stephen P. Lukos

Allegations: Eastern Awning Systems Inc. manufactures retractable fabric patio awnings in a plant located at 843 Echo Lake Road in Watertown, Connecticut; Stephen P. Lukos is the company's owner, president and director.

Funding Recipient: Fair Labor Association

Total Funding: $4.87 million

Purpose: Implement a project to improve hazelnut suppliers' social compliance programs and reduce child labor in hazelnut production.

Location: Turkey