Public meeting scheduled for Feb. 10 in Washington, D.C.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) today announced a public meeting, "OSHA Listens," to solicit comments and suggestions from OSHA stakeholders on key issues facing the agency. The meeting is scheduled for Feb. 10 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST in Washington, D.C.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a $1,661,173 grant to assist about 600 workers affected by layoffs at the Taylor, Bean and Whitaker Mortgage Corp. and its subsidiary companies in north/central Florida.

Cherry Hill, N.J. – The plan administrator of the Airport Hospitality, LTD 401(k) Plan now located in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, was ordered to pay the $86,500 penalty assessed by the U. S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), according to the decision and order of the department's Office of Administrative Law Judges.

Memphis, Tenn. – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a default judgment requiring that Stephens Brothers Inc. be removed as fiduciary of the former Memphis company's 401(k) plan.

The order, issued by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, found that Stephens Brothers Inc. violated provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

The judgment appoints an independent fiduciary to terminate the plan and distribute assets of approximately $692,000 to the plan participants.

Atlanta – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued Atlanta engineering company Williams-Russell & Johnson and two of its owners, Pelham C. Williams and Charles E. Johnson Sr., for failure to forward employee contributions and loan repayments in a timely manner to the company's 401(k) plan in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced that approximately 3,900 workers from companies in 15 states – California, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Wisconsin – are eligible to apply for Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA).

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA In the week ending Jan. 9, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 444,000, an increase of 11,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 433,000. The 4-week moving average was 440,750, a decrease of 9,000 from the previous week's revised average of 449,750.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.5 percent for the week ending Jan. 2, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's unrevised rate of 3.6 percent.

BAY SHORE, N.Y. — The U.S. Department of Labor will recover more than $1.8 million in back wages for more than 500 employees of MT Transportation & Logistics Services Inc., a trucking company based in Bay Shore, under contract with the United States Postal Service (USPS) to haul mail. The company and its principal officers also will be debarred from receiving future government contracts for a three-year period.

Washington – The U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) will host a free webcast January 21 to help employers, plan administrators and service providers prepare for changes to the Form 5500 and electronic filing requirement that begin with the 2009 plan year filings.

Raleigh, N.C. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has sued fiduciaries of the former Raleigh-based Castleton Group to restore more than $500,000 in plan losses that resulted from violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

WASHINGTON – Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis today announced $150 million in green jobs training grants, as authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). The "Pathways Out of Poverty" grants – as the group of funding awards is known – will support programs that help disadvantaged populations find ways out of poverty and into economic self-sufficiency through employment in energy efficiency and renewable energy industries.

Washington – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the publication of a final rule to protect employee contributions deposited to small pension and welfare benefit plans with fewer than 100 participants by providing a safe harbor period of seven business days following receipt or withholding by employers.

Elk Grove, Illinois – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued the former owners of Jet Fastener Corp. in Geneva and fiduciaries of the company’s health plan to recover employee health benefit contributions used to pay the company’s operating expenses.

CHICAGO — The U.S. Department of Labor has sued the owners of bankrupt Mid-States Express Inc. of Aurora, Ill., for allegedly failing to protect the interests of the participants and beneficiaries in the company's 401(k) and health plans. The department's lawsuit alleges that Bruce Hartmann failed to disclose to employees that their medical bills were not likely to be paid, even as the company continued to take deductions from their paychecks for medical coverage.

Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued Dalton Mechanical Services Inc. and its president and co-owner, Scott Slocum, for failing to deposit employee contributions into the company’s employee benefit plan in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis issued the following statement on the December 2009 Employment Situation report released today:

"This past December, the economy lost 85,000 jobs, and the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 10 percent.

"Today's numbers underscore that we still have work to do before we can be sure that all Americans have access to good jobs. We are working aggressively to reverse these conditions for American workers and their families.

Washington – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) converted to a total electronic system of online filing for the Forms 5500 and new the Form 5500-SF on December 31, 2009. Now the all-electronic EFAST2 system allows the public to submit and access filings online at www.efast.dol.gov.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced that approximately 1,100 workers from companies in seven states – Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, North Carolina and Ohio – are eligible to apply for Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA).

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA In the week ending Jan. 2, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 434,000, an increase of 1,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 433,000. The 4-week moving average was 450,250, a decrease of 10,250 from the previous week's revised average of 460,500.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.6 percent for the week ending Dec. 26, a decrease of 0.2 percentage point from the prior week's unrevised rate of 3.8 percent.

Reno, Nevada – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a bankruptcy court order in which the owners of Jeff Codega Planning & Design Inc. of Reno, Nevada, agreed to restore $35,864 owed to the company’s 401(k) profit-sharing plan.