AUSTIN, TX – After escaping from a partial trench collapse hours earlier, two workers employed by an Austin contractor to install a residential wastewater line were not as fortunate later on Oct. 23, 2021.

Both were told to return to the unprotected 13-foot-deep trench to finish the job, and soon after, the trench collapsed again. This time, the collapse buried one worker causing fatal injuries and partially buried the second, who suffered serious injuries.

LYNDHURST, NJ – Week after week, a worker at Advantix Logistics Corp. kept finding paychecks short of their expectations. After several complaints to a supervisor, the company responded by firing the worker. When the worker raised concerns that the final paycheck did not include all wages earned, the company threatened continued retaliation.

FORT MYERS, FL – Federal laws exist to ensure employees get all their legally earned wages and when a Fort Myers security group’s pay practices shortchanged the overtime wages of 29 workers, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division helped to recover $107,936 in back wages and liquidated damages owed.

In the week ending April 16, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 184,000, a decrease of 2,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 185,000 to 186,000. The 4-week moving average was 177,250, an increase of 4,500 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 500 from 172,250 to 172,750.

Employer: Señor Frog’s Orlando LLC

Investigation site: 8747 International Drive, Orlando, FL 32819

DENVER – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration developed a new Regional Emphasis Program to identify and reduce hazards in the cut stone and stone products industry. Enforcement will begin on May 17, 2022. In the past 10 years, the cut stone and stone products manufacturing industry has had the highest documented overexposures to respirable crystalline silica in the region. 

Participant:   Raytheon Global Headquarters, Waltham, Massachusetts

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor issued a policy bulletin announcing changes by its Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs to assist federal firefighters with certain occupational illnesses by making it easier for claimants to file certain claims and improving transparency in how claims are processed.

OKLAHOMA CITY - El operador de siete franquicias de restaurantes del área de Oklahoma City afirmó que los trabajadores eligieron salarios por hora más altos en lugar de ser pagados horas extras por más de 40 horas en una semana de trabajo – un acuerdo ilegal, ya sea que los trabajadores lo consintieron o no–

OKLAHOMA CITY – The operator of seven Oklahoma City-area taco shop franchises claimed that workers requested higher hourly wages rather than being paid overtime for hours over 40 in a workweek – an illegal agreement whether the workers consented or not – and as a recent U.S. Department of Labor investigation shows, is a costly error by the employer.

Employer:                              Fayetteville Miyabi Inc., operating as Miyabi Japanese Steak Restaurant

Investigation site:                 1990 Skibo Road, Fayetteville, NC 28314

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a proposal to reconsider and revoke the final approval of Arizona’s State OSHA plan, in response to nearly a decade-long pattern of failures to adopt and enforce standards and enforcement policies at least as effective as those used by the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

LEWES, DE – Following litigation initiated by the U.S. Department of Labor, a federal court ordered a Delaware landscaping company and its owner to pay $50,622 in liquidated damages to 10 temporary workers.

Employer: Magnolia Processing Inc.

Investigation site: 5255 Hwy 4, Tunica, MS 38676

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking public comment on proposed revisions to Wagner-Peyser Act regulations to include Employment Service staff in public employment offices in state merit systems, and improve service delivery for migrant and seasonal farmworkers.

WAUKEGAN, IL – A Waukegan contractor – with a history of violating federal safety standards and ignoring safety citations – was cited again by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration for exposing workers to deadly fall hazards at two separate job sites in October 2021. Joshua Herion – who does business as ECS Roofing Professionals Inc. – faces proposed penalties of $360,531.

ESTERO, FL – A federal investigation of three North Miami Beach restaurants that found the operator denied 58 workers their full overtime wages, has recovered $18,705 in back wages and liquidated damages for the affected employees.

SEATTLE – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Puget Sound Shipbuilders Association in Seattle have renewed an alliance to continue a collaborative relationship that provides shipyard workers and companies with information about hazards and resources to promote safe, healthful workplaces and workers’ rights.

CLEARWATER, FL – A federal investigation into how a 47-year-old carpenter was fatally injured on Oct. 6, 2021, at the Pinellas Gateway Express project in Clearwater found his employer violated safety standards by allowing workers to remain in a crane load’s danger zone.

LANCASTER, PA – A federal court entered a consent judgment against a Pennsylvania home healthcare agency and its owner after investigators found they denied 193 direct care workers overtime pay.