November 17, 2015

WHD News Brief: Florida Dept. of Corrections to pay 294 health care workers more than $723K in back wages after failing to pay overtime [11/17/2015]

Employer name: Florida Dept. of Corrections

Investigation site: Prison health units throughout the State of Florida

November 17, 2015

WHD News Release: MARTA repeatedly violated federal leave protections affecting more than 70 workers, US Labor Department finds [11/17/2015]

ATLANTA — For the second time, federal investigators have found the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority violated employees' rights to take unpaid, job-protected leave for a qualifying medical or family issue.

A follow-up investigation to one conducted in 2013 by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division found that the city's mass transit system, known as MARTA, violated its workers' rights to leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act — a law since 1993.

November 17, 2015

OSHA News Brief: OSHA issues notices to Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center for exposing workers to an unsafe workplace [11/17/2015]

Employer name: The Hunter Holmes McGuire Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 1201 Broad Rock Blvd. in Richmond, Virginia.

Notices issued: On Nov. 6, 2015, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued notices to the medical center after identifying four willful, two serious, and eight other-than-serious safety violations.

November 17, 2015

ETA News Brief: California to receive $6M in incremental funding to continue temporary employment services to workers affected by California drought [11/17/2015]

State: California

Type of Award: National Dislocated Worker Grant incremental

Incremental Amount Released: $6 million

Total Award Amount Approved: $18 million

Funding Awarded to: California Employment Development Department

Number of Workers Served: Approximately 1,000

November 17, 2015

ETA News Release: $20 million in additional funds available as part of Obama administration's efforts to end cycle of poverty, criminality and incarceration [11/17/2015]

Training to Work grants improve employment opportunities for formerly incarcerated adults

WASHINGTON — State and federal prisons release more than 600,000 people each year. Back in society — without the benefits of a steady job — far too many are likely to return.

November 16, 2015

OSHA seeks public comment as it updates Safety and Health Program Management Guidelines

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration is seeking public comment on an updated version of its voluntary Safety and Health Program Management Guidelines. First published in 1989, the guidelines are being updated to reflect modern technology and practices.

November 16, 2015

WHD News Brief: US Labor Department investigation finds over 450 Family and Medical Leave Act violations at St. Mary's Health Care System Inc. in Athens, Georgia[11/16/2015]

Employer name: St. Mary's Health Care System Inc.

Investigation site: 1230 Baxter St., Athens, Georgia 30606

November 16, 2015

OSHA News Release: OSHA seeks public comment as it updates Safety and Health Program Management Guidelines [11/16/2015]

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration is seeking public comment on an updated version of its voluntary Safety and Health Program Management Guidelines. First published in 1989, the guidelines are being updated to reflect modern technology and practices.

November 16, 2015

OSHA News Brief: OSHA investigation finds 37 safety and health violations at Ridgway, Pennsylvania, metal company after worker suffers leg amputation [11/16/2015]

Employer name: Clarion Sintered Metals Inc.'s main manufacturing plant is located at 3472 Montmorenci Road in Ridgway, Pennsylvania. This was the inspected worksite, where the company designs, manufactures, machines, cleans and finishes metal parts.

November 16, 2015

EBSA News Release: State retirement initiatives get guidance from US Labor Department [11/16/2015]

CHICAGO — Nearly 70 million workers lack access to an employer-sponsored retirement plan. Many states are seeking ways to expand savings options for these workers. It is against this backdrop that the U.S. Department of Labor has published a notice of proposed rulemaking and an interpretive bulletin meant to guide states as they create programs that help more workers save for retirement, and that do not run afoul of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

November 13, 2015

OSHA News Release: Furniture manufacturer, staffing agency expose workers to hazards twice in 14 months [11/13/2015]

TEMPLE, Texas — Twice in 14 months, MooreCo Inc. temporary workers were seriously injured when inadequately guarded machines pulled them in, removing skin from the wrist up to the shoulder in the most recent incident, and from the wrist down in an earlier incident. As a result of the earlier incident, the employee's fingertips were also amputated.

November 13, 2015

OSHA News Brief: Employee struck by forklift at Schenectady recycling facility [11/13/2015]

Employer name: Tomra NY Recycling LLC, 31 Opus Blvd., Schenectady, New York 12306

Reason for inspection: A worker at the company's Schenectady recycling facility was operating a baler on May 14, 2015, when he was struck by a forklift that was attempting to pass by. The worker sustained a compound leg fracture.

November 12, 2015

WHD News Release: News Release: Farmer, staffing firm debarred from H-2A visa program after falsifying documents for temporary, foreign workers at Volga, South Dakota, dairy [11/12/2015]

VOLGA, S.D. — A federal administrative law judge upheld the findings of a U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation that led to the debarment of a Volga dairy farmer and an Aberdeen-based employment agency from a program that allows employers to hire temporary foreign labor for agricultural work. The judge also agreed that the dairy farmer owed $38,173 in wages to 15 U.S. workers after the domestic employees received lower earnings than the foreign workers.

November 10, 2015

OSHA News Brief: Unguarded balcony, lack of fall protection cause death of Dallas construction worker, OSHA finds

Design Plastering Inc., Design Plastering West LLC cited for multiple violations

DALLAS – A fall from a third-story balcony killed 44-year-old Jorge Carrion Torres as he worked on the exterior of an apartment complex on May 14, 2015. Torres, who had been on the job for one month, was applying stucco underlayment to the balcony walls when the incident occurred. His employer had not installed scaffolding and had not provided Torres or his co-workers with personal fall protection.

November 10, 2015

OSHA News Brief: Unguarded balcony, lack of fall protection cause death of Dallas construction worker, OSHA finds [11/10/2015]

DALLAS — A fall from a third-story balcony killed 44-year-old Jorge Carrion Torres as he worked on the exterior of an apartment complex on May 14, 2015. Torres, who had been on the job for one month, was applying stucco underlayment to the balcony walls when the incident occurred. His employer had not installed scaffolding and had not provided Torres or his co-workers with personal fall protection.

November 10, 2015

OSHA News Brief: Philadelphia stucco company continues to expose workers to fall hazards on construction site [11/10/2015]

Employer name: Alberto El Romero is located at 630 Mifflin Street in Philadelphia. Workers were performing stucco operations on a work site located at 1011 South 7th Street in Philadelphia.

Citations issued: On November 5, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations for two serious and five repeat violations.

November 10, 2015

ILAB News Brief: Winrock International awarded $4.5M to reduce child labor in cocoa-growing communities in Ghana [11/10/2015]

Funding Recipient: Winrock International

Total Funding: $4.5 million

Purpose: Implement a project to empower cocoa-growing communities and help youth further their education or develop marketable skills.

Location: Ghana