September 11, 2024

US Department of Labor announces $1.4M in grants to prevent, respond to workplace gender-based violence, harassment

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of $1.4 million in funding to support efforts by four community organizations to prevent and respond to gender-based violence and harassment against underserved and marginalized women workers.

September 10, 2024

Prominent Fort Wayne restaurants operator must pay $149K in back wages, damages to 28 servers, $28K in penalties, to resolve federal wage violations

FORT WAYNE, IN – A federal lawsuit has recovered $178,000 in back wages, damages and penalties from Hall Drive-Ins Inc., operator of 10 Fort Wayne-area restaurants, to resolve U.S. Department of Labor litigation filed in 2023 in light of the employers’ violations of tip-pool requirements in the Fair Labor Standards Act. 

September 9, 2024

Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Treasury issue final rules strengthening access to mental health, substance use disorder benefits

WASHINGTON – As part of the Biden-Harris administration’s effort to ensure more than 150 million people with private health coverage have greater access to mental health and substance use disorder care, the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and the Treasury took significant action today by issuing final rules to clarify and strengthen protections to expand equitable access to these benefits as compared to medical and surgical benefits and reduce barriers to accessing these services. 

September 6, 2024

President Biden announces ‘Investing in America and Investing in Americans’ order to speed creation of Good Jobs through federal investments

WASHINGTON – As part of its continued efforts to expand opportunities for all, the Biden-Harris administration has announced the “Investing in America and Investing in Americans” Executive Order to drive more federal dollars toward good-paying, safe jobs offering the right to organize and providing critical benefits like childcare.

President Biden made the announcement today in Michigan at a United Association union hall in Ann Arbor, joined by Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg.

September 6, 2024

US Department of Labor, Mexican Consulate in San Jose renew partnership to educate, protect workers’ rights under federal law

Participants: U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division

                        Consulate of Mexico in San Jose, California

September 6, 2024

US Department of Labor updates cybersecurity guidance for plan sponsors, fiduciaries, recordkeepers, plan participants to protect info, assets

WASHINGTON – In its continuing effort to protect U.S. workers’ retirement and health benefits, the U.S. Department of Labor today updated current cybersecurity guidance confirming that it applies to all types of plans governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, including health and welfare plans, and all employee retirement benefit plans.

September 6, 2024

US Department of Labor awards $90M in grants to support career services, training in 44 states, Puerto Rico to help farmworkers access good jobs

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of $90 million in grants to organizations in 44 states and Puerto Rico to provide training and career services and related support services, and work-based learning to help migrant and seasonal farmworkers and their dependents develop skills to pursue careers in agriculture or non-agriculture sectors.

September 6, 2024

Statement by US Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su on August jobs report

WASHINGTON – Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su issued the following statement on the August 2024 Employment Situation report: 

“The latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the U.S. economy added 142,000 jobs in August, with the unemployment rate edging down to 4.2 percent. Earnings continue to rise, reflecting ongoing wage growth, and labor force participation remainsstrong, including an all-time historic high women’s prime age labor force participation rate. 

September 6, 2024

Department of Labor to hold ERISA Advisory Council meeting Sept. 10-12

WASHINGTON – The Department of Labor will hold its next meeting of the Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans, also known as the ERISA Advisory Council, Sept. 10-12 at the department’s headquarters in Washington.

The meeting is open to the public and accessible online and via teleconference.

September 5, 2024

US Department of Labor recovers $54K in back wages for 54 workers after employer repeatedly failed to issue paychecks

Employer:      Teijin Automotive Technologies Inc.

                            100 S. Poe Road

                            North Baltimore, Ohio

September 5, 2024

Department of Labor recovers $91K in back wages, damages from Littleton landscaper who shortchanged 21 employees

Employer name:              JRM Enterprises Inc., operating as JRM Landscape & Design 

Investigation site:           8177 Carder Court 

                                                   Littleton, CO 80125

September 5, 2024

US Department of Labor recovers $30K from Tennessee assisted living centers operator for retaliating against employee

NASHVILLE, TN – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $31,761 in back wages and damages from a Tennessee operator of assisted living communities that illegally fired one worker for questioning the employer’s pay practices and denied full overtime wages to seven care workers.

September 5, 2024

US Department of Labor announces updates in reporting, enhanced tools to bolster efforts to combat child, forced labor globally

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced updates on the goods and products produced through the use of child or forced labor, the industries where children are exploited and how governments can combat these abuses.

September 5, 2024

Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report

In the week ending August 31, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 227,000, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 231,000 to 232,000. The 4-week moving average was 230,000, a decrease of 1,750 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 250 from 231,500 to 231,750.

September 4, 2024

Department of Labor recovers $141K in wages, damages for 28 workers wrongly denied overtime by Dallas-area home healthcare provider

Employer name:                     Solid Care Home Health Inc.

Investigation site:                  1500 E Belt Line Road, Suite 200

                                                          Carrolton, TX 75006

September 4, 2024

US Department of Labor obtains judgment requiring Pennsylvania in-home care agency to pay $1M to 193 employees denied minimum wage, overtime

LEBANON, PA – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a summary judgment in federal court in its effort to recover more than $1 million in back wages and liquidated damages for 193 employees of a Pennsylvania home care agency and its owner, which failed to pay workers required minimum and overtime wages.

September 4, 2024

Department of Labor awards $49M for job training in high-demand sectors for Appalachian, Lower Mississippi Delta, Northern Border regions’ workers

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor, in partnership with the Appalachian Regional Commission, Delta Regional Authority and the Northern Border Regional Commission, today announced $49 million in grant awards to prepare workers for good-quality, secure jobs in high-demand industries in their communities. These awards deliver on the Biden-Harris administration’s promise to bring economic opportunity back to places that are too often left out or behind.

September 4, 2024

US Department of Labor recovers $375K in back wages, damages for 806 workers denied overtime by Rochester-based nursing homes

BUFFALO, NY – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $375,649 in back wages and liquidated damages for 806 current and former employees of nursing homes in upstate New York that denied them overtime pay in violation of federal law.

September 3, 2024

US Department of Labor recovers $450K in wages, benefits for 250 workers of Honolulu air cargo carrier that disregarded federal regulations

HONOLULU – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered more than $450,000 from a Honolulu air cargo carrier that shortchanged 250 employees of their full pay and benefits while fulfilling a $113 million U.S. Postal Service contract to move mail between airports in Hawaii.

September 3, 2024

US Department of Labor recovers $103K in back wages for 38 workers misclassified as independent contractors by Texas landscaping company

DALLAS  The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $103,665 in back wages for 38 workers employed by a Southlake landscaping company that misclassified them as independent contractors and, by doing so, denied them overtime pay.