JACKSONVILLE, FL – The U.S. Department of Labor has found $118,042 in back wages and liquidated damages due to 10 employees of a Jacksonville restaurant operator who forced servers to work for tips alone, denied overtime wages to others and failed to keep accurate records of the hours employees worked.

WOLF CREEK, MT – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has certified NorthWestern Energy’s Holter Hydroelectric Plant in Wolf Creek as a “Star” worksite in the agency’s Voluntary Protection Programs, the highest level of recognition for workplace safety and health excellence.

SAN DIEGO – A McDonald’s franchisee has agreed to pay $25,920 in civil money penalties after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation found the employer assigned minor-aged employees at three Santa Ana locations hazardous work in violation of child labor laws.

FORT WAYNE, IN - El operador de siete restaurantes del área de Fort Wayne estafó a 17 de sus gerentes cuando se determinó que el salario que les pagaba era insuficiente para eximir al empleador de su obligación de pagar horas extras. Esto implicó una violación de los requisitos de pago de horas extras cuando los empleados trabajaban más de 40 horas en una semana laboral, según descubrió una investigación del Departamento Laboral de EE. UU.

FORT WAYNE, IN – The operator of seven Fort Wayne area restaurants shortchanged 17 of its managers when the salary it paid was determined to be insufficient to relieve the employer of its overtime obligations. This led to a violation of overtime pay requirements when employees worked more than 40 hours in a workweek, a U.S. Department of Labor investigation has found.

BANCROFT, ID – Trabajadores viajan con frecuencia cientos y hasta miles de millas desde sus países de origen hasta EE.UU. para realizar trabajo temporal, especialmente en la industria agrícola. Su labor es vital para el suministro de alimentos a la nación, y dejan sus hogares y familias confiados que sus empleadores cumplirán con los requisitos del programa H-2A que protege sus salarios y bienestar.

BANCROFT, ID – Guest workers often travel hundreds, if not thousands of miles from their native countries to the U.S. to perform seasonal work, much of it in the agricultural industry. Their work is vital to the nation’s food supply, and they leave their homes and families under the belief that their employer will comply with the requirements of the H-2A program that protect their wages and well-being.

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Every day, millions of careworkers tend to the vital needs of people in communities nationwide. They work long hours and put themselves at risk amid the pandemic, yet they are among the nation’s lowest paid workers. Their jobs are made even more difficult when employers fail to pay them all their rightfully earned wages.

MANCHESTER, NH – A recent investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found Dos Amigos Burritos LLC, a Concord restaurant operator, improperly included managers in its tip pool. The investigation led to the recovery of $61,788 in tips and liquidated damages for 39 employees to rectify the violation and compensate them properly.   

Employers’ names:   Schuetz Enterprises Inc., operating as Regency Home Care Georgia
1750 Old Spring House Lane
Atlanta, GA 30338

Edlyn Healthcare Services Inc.
1755 N. Brown Road, Ste. 200
Lawrenceville, GA 30043

DES MOINES, IA – The U.S. Department of Labor recovered $125,000 in back wages for 34 workers after an investigation found a subcontractor paid workers the incorrect prevailing wage rate. The employer paid workers the pipe layer rate when they performed plumbing work on a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development apartment project under federal contract in Des Moines.

KEVIL, KY – Twenty-three employees of three Kentucky gas stations and convenience stores are now being paid for all the wages they earned after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation found their employer violated the law by willfully sidestepping required overtime wages owed.

DALHART, TX – Each year, hundreds of agricultural workers enter the U.S. with an H-2A visa and make the long trip toward the Texas Panhandle’s far northwest corner. In the small town of Dalhart at Larsen Farms – a sprawling potato farm operated by one of the nation’s largest growers – they work under an open sky, some spending long days in the hot sun harvesting the crop and repairing farm equipment while others keep warehouses operating.

WASHINGTON, DC ‒ U.S. healthcare workers experienced a staggering 249 percent increase in injury and illness rates in 2020, based on employer-reported data, as they encountered serious safety and health hazards while serving those in need and labored countless hours battling the pandemic. In fact, healthcare and social assistance workers combined for more injuries and illnesses than any other industry in the nation.

In the week ending February 12, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 248,000, an increase of 23,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 2,000 from 223,000 to 225,000. The 4-week moving average was 243,250, a decrease of 10,500 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 500 from 253,250 to 253,750.

WEST COLUMBIA, SC – The U.S. Department of Labor found a West Columbia home healthcare provider shortchanged 36 employees who provide companionship and personal care for seniors, people with cognitive disorders, mothers of newborns and others who need assistance, by denying them the overtime wages they earned.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of a $4.5 million cooperative agreement with Pact Inc., an international nonprofit organization, to combat child labor in mica-producing communities in Madagascar.

HOUSTON – Tras una orden de un tribunal federal, el Departamento de Trabajo de EE.UU. ha recuperado $139,068 en salarios atrasados y daños y perjuicios adeudados a 21 trabajadores cuyo empleador de Houston clasificó erróneamente como contratistas independientes y no pagó las horas extras.

HOUSTON – Following a federal court order, the U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $139,068 in back wages and liquidated damages owed for 21 workers whose Houston employer misclassified them as independent contractors and failed to pay overtime wages.

Employer name:        Lubbock Essential Home Health Care Inc., operating as Essential Home Health

Investigation site:      Lubbock, Texas