August 1, 2022

Discounting safety: Dollar Tree’s history of ignoring workplace safety, hazards continues with $1.2M in penalties at two Family Dollar stores in Ohio

COLUMBUS, OH One of the nation’s largest discount retailers continues to expose employees to the risk of injuries by flagrantly ignoring workplace safety regulations, this time with hazardous conditions found at two Ohio locations, in Maple Heights and Columbus.

August 1, 2022

US Department of Labor proposes $480K in additional fines to Ohio vehicle parts manufacturer for continuing to expose workers to multiple hazards

WAPAKONETA, OH – Federal safety investigators found workers at General Aluminum Mfg. Co.’s Wapakoneta site exposed to machine hazards, just 36 days after they found similar violations at the aluminum vehicle parts manufacturer’s facility in Conneaut.

August 1, 2022

US Department of Labor cites Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. after ammonia leak hospitalized workers, led to evacuation of Canton poultry processing plant

CANTON, GA – A federal workplace safety investigation into a Jan. 19, 2022, ammonia leak that hospitalized two workers and led to the evacuation of about 50 workers at a Canton poultry processing plant found their employer might have prevented the incident by ensuring required safety standards were followed.

July 28, 2022

El Departamento de Trabajo de EEUU recupera $178K en salarios atrasados para 27 trabajadores de un empleador de Houston que los clasificaba erróneamente como contratistas independientes

HOUSTON - Una investigación del Departamento de Trabajo de EE. UU. ha recuperado $178,358 en salarios por horas extras atrasados para 27 trabajadores de una empresa de soldadura y fabricación de Houston que los clasificaba erróneamente como contratistas independientes y les negaba sus salarios y beneficios completos.

July 28, 2022

US Department of Labor recovers $178K in back wages for 27 workers of Houston employer who misclassified them as independent contractors

HOUSTON – An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $178,358 in overtime back wages for 27 employees of a Houston welding and fabrication company that misclassified them as independent contractors and denied them their full wages and benefits.

July 28, 2022

US Department of Labor debars Washington orchard operator who verbally abused, threatened foreign farmworkers; violated federal workers’ program

SEATTLE – The U.S. Department of Labor has debarred an East Wenatchee orchard operator for three years from participation in a federal program that allows employment of temporary agricultural workers from outside the U.S. after investigators determined that the employer provided unsafe and unhealthy housing, failed to provide work promised in workers’ contracts, and subjected workers to verbal abuse and threats.

July 28, 2022

US Department of Labor recovers $608K in wages, liquidated damages after Mountain Mike’s Pizza restaurants’ franchisee denied employees overtime

SAN JOSE, CA – Denying their workers overtime pay when required has had costly consequences for the operators of six northern California pizza franchise locations from whom the U.S. Department of Labor has recovered a total of $608,272 in back wages and liquidated damages for 33 workers.

July 28, 2022

US Department of Labor recovers $86K after investigation finds Eugene restaurant owner kept all tips workers earned, used them to pay their wages

Employer:                                          LI&YU Restaurant LLC, operating as 

July 28, 2022

US Department of Labor finds Appleton roofing contractor again exposing workers to potentially deadly fall hazards; proposes $94K in fines

APPLETON, WI – Despite the potentially deadly consequences of its actions, an Appleton contractor allowed three roofers to work at heights up to 18 feet without anchoring their fall protection, making it useless in preventing serious or fatal injuries.

July 28, 2022

Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report

In the week ending July 23, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 256,000, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 10,000 from 251,000 to 261,000. The 4-week moving average was 249,250, an increase of 6,250 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 2,500 from 240,500 to 243,000.

July 27, 2022

Judge orders concessions operator that shortchanged temporary workers with H-2B visas to pay $203K in back wages, penalties

MINNEAPOLIS – An administrative law judge has dismissed a Minnesota company’s notice of contest and affirmed the U.S. Department of Labor finding that the employer violated a federal program that allows foreign, non-agricultural workers with H-2B visas to temporarily work in the U.S.

July 27, 2022

Pompano Beach contractor’s failure to heed prior violation left roofing workers unprotected, investigation into employee’s 25-foot fatal fall finds

DAVIE, FL – In 2018, federal workplace safety investigators cited a Pompano Beach roofing contractor who exposed its workers to the construction industry’s most lethal hazard, falls from elevation. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration determined that the company’s failure to heed that warning claimed the life of a 25-year-old worker in February 2022.

July 27, 2022

US Department of Labor renews ‘Star Level’ designation of Veolia ES Technical Solutions LLC for workplace safety, health achievements

Participant:   Veolia ES Technical Solutions LLC, Charlestown, Massachusetts

Description:   Veolia ES Technical Solutions LLC, which employs about 65 workers in Charlestown, provides hazardous waste management, shipment and disposal as well as environmental services for businesses in the Northeast.

July 26, 2022

US Department of Labor finds Virginia tech, engineering contractor underpaid 63 workers $268K in pay, benefits on government-funded project

HAVELOCK, NC – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $268,014 in back wages for 63 workers of a Reston, Virginia, technical and engineering contractor who denied them a portion of their wages and benefits while they worked on a Department of Defense project in Havelock.

July 26, 2022

US Department of Labor proposes amendment to Qualified Professional Asset Manager Exemption to protect benefits plans, participants, beneficiaries

WASHINGTON The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration today announced a proposed amendment to the Class Prohibited Transaction Exemption 84-14, also known as the Qualified Professional Asset Manager Exemption, to ensure the exemption continues to protect plans, participants and beneficiaries, individual retirement account owners and their interests.

July 25, 2022

US Department of Labor recovers $115K in back wages, damages for 36 workers after investigation finds New Jersey car wash operator denied overtime

FRANKLIN PARK, NJ – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division has recovered $115,801 in back wages and damages for 36 workers after an investigation found their employer denied them overtime pay at two New Jersey car washes.

July 25, 2022

Department of Labor awards Cherokee Nation $1.3M in incremental funds for pandemic workforce recovery, humanitarian support

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced an incremental award of $1.3 million to the Cherokee Nation to support continued disaster-relief employment and employment and training services in response to the coronavirus pandemic’s effects on its people.

July 25, 2022

US Department of Labor investigation finds Gulf Breeze restaurant denied sushi chefs overtime, violated child labor laws

GULF BREEZE, FL A federal investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor at a Gulf Breeze restaurant found several pay practice and child labor violations, including the failure to pay sushi chefs overtime wages due and the employment of 15-year-old workers for more hours per week than the law allows.