HAMMOND, IN – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), Luka Kljajic - a member of the Indiana/Kentucky/Ohio Regional Council of Carpenters (IKORCC) - appeared before U.S. District Court Judge Philip P. Simon in Indiana and pleaded guilty to embezzlement from the union’s healthcare fund. Kljajic is the 28th member of the IKORCC charged in federal court for submitting false claims to the union’s healthcare fund. To date, the court has ordered $491,890 in restitution to the IKORCC Welfare Fund.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) today announced two new policy directives focused on ensuring equal employment opportunity and protecting Americans’ religious freedom.

MILWAUKEE, WI – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has joined with Gilbane Building Company and the Milwaukee Building & Construction Trades Council in signing a strategic partnership to promote worker safety and health during the construction of the Potawatomi Hotel Expansion in Milwaukee.

Second Time in Department’s History That It Has Obtained Temporary Restraining Order Under the H-2A Visa Program

HOUSTON, TX – Houston retailer Conn Appliances Inc. – doing business as Conn’s – will pay $540,870 in back wages and liquidated damages to 1,991 employees to settle overtime violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) found in an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD). The corporate-wide investigation covered 164 locations of the appliances, furniture, and electronics retailer.

FORT WORTH, TX – An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD) has recovered $253,359 in back wages for 410 employees after Walker Drywall Inc. paid the money owed to settle violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) overtime provisions.

NOLENSVILLE, TN – Elite Wireless Inc., headquartered in Nolensville, Tennessee, will pay $130,781 in back wages and liquidated damages to 102 employees after a U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD) investigation found the employer violated minimum wage, overtime, and recordkeeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). WHD also assessed the retailer a civil money penalty of $41,065 for willful and repeat violations.

In the week ending August 4, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 213,000, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 218,000 to 219,000. The 4-week moving average was 214,250, a decrease of 500 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 250 from 214,500 to 214,750.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA) today announced the availability of up to $100 million for Trade and Economic Transition National Dislocated Worker Grants to provide training and career services to dislocated workers affected by major economic dislocations. 

GUAM – The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD) is conducting a building, heavy, highway and residential construction survey in Guam to collect data to establish prevailing wage rates, as required under the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts.

The survey is not limited to federally funded construction projects, and covers active building, heavy, highway and residential construction projects in Guam between May 1, 2017, and April 30, 2018.

SEATTLE, WA – The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD) is conducting a building and heavy construction survey in all metropolitan counties of Washington to collect data to establish prevailing wage rates, as required under the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts.

The survey is not limited to federally funded construction projects, and covers active building and heavy construction projects in metropolitan counties between January 1, 2017, and December 31, 2017.

PORTLAND, OR – The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD) is conducting a building construction survey statewide in Oregon to collect data to establish prevailing wage rates, as required under the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts.

The survey is not limited to federally funded construction projects, and covers active building construction projects in all counties between March 1, 2017, and February 28, 2018.

PITTSBURGH, PA – The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania has entered a consent judgment against Water Transfer Solutions LLC and its president, Joseph Dugan, requiring the defendants to pay $92,728 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages - totaling $185,456 - to 82 current and former employees. The judgment follows an investigation by the U.S.

JASPER, AL – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and Carl Cannon Inc., an automobile dealership, have reached a settlement agreement to resolve citations and penalties issued after five employees were injured, three fatally, in a fire at the company's Jasper, Alabama, facility. The company will pay $114,074 in penalties.

KANSAS CITY, KS – The U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas has sentenced Leavenworth, Kansas, business owner Brenda Wood to serve 50 months of imprisonment followed by an additional five years of supervised release, and to make more than $4.3 million in restitution for bank fraud and violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. Wood previously pleaded guilty to two counts of bank fraud and one count of theft from an employee benefit plan.

KENNET, MO – The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a complaint and a motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri to enjoin defendant Marin J. Corp. from violating its obligations concerning its employment of H-2A temporary agriculture workers under the H-2A visa program.

SHADY GROVE, PA – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Grove U.S. LLC for exposing workers to struck-by hazards after three employees suffered fatal injuries when a 300-ton crane collapsed at the company’s Shady Grove, Pennsylvania, facility. The company faces proposed penalties totaling $14,976, the maximum amount allowed.

EL PASO, TX – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited El Paso Underground Construction for failing to protect its employees from trench collapse hazards. The pipe-laying company faces proposed penalties of $190,642.

ATHENS, GA – An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD) has determined that FQSR LLC – an Athens, Georgia, fast-food restaurant operator – violated child labor provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The Department assessed the restaurant $10,590 in civil money penalties.

SEA ISLAND, GA – Sea Island Acquisition LLC has paid $46,922 in back wages to 167 employees after a U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD) investigation found the Sea Island, Georgia-based employer violated minimum wage, overtime, and recordkeeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).