WASHINGTON – It can be challenging for workers seeking disability benefits from an employer-sponsored plan to understand the process and why their claim is approved or denied. To improve the fairness, transparency and accuracy of the disability claims process, the U.S. Department of Labor has announced a final rule requiring that plans, plan fiduciaries, and insurance providers comply with additional procedural protections when dealing with disability benefit claimants.

Employer: El Calamar Inc.

Site: 315 West 17th St.
Santa Ana, California

WASHINGTON – The U.S. General Services Administration, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Labor, today announced the plan for environmental, transportation and historic preservation studies at the Frances Perkins Building and other sites being explored for the department’s new headquarters.

BOISE, Idaho – Brandon Horine’s first day at work removing shingles from a residential roof in Nampa was also his last. Without required fall protection equipment in place, the 42-year-old worker fell to the ground on Sept. 12, 2016 – suffering severe brain trauma that ended his life several days later.

Employer name: U.S. Postal Service Processing and Distribution Center

Inspection site: 8409 Lee Hwy, Merrifield, Virginia

HOUSTON – On a motel housekeeper’s wages, Iris Castro lives on a budget that barely makes ends meet. When her aging parents’ ill health demanded medications, she couldn’t afford to send money home to her native Honduras. Unable to return home, she is left to mourn their deaths in the past two years and saddened by her inability to help pay for their care.

Employer name: Star Laundry Inc.
421 and 436 East 16^th St.
Paterson, New Jersey                     

In the week ending December 10, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 254,000, a decrease of 4,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 258,000. The 4-week moving average was 257,750, an increase of 5,250 from the previous week's unrevised average of 252,500.

TROY, Mich. – A Michigan-based auto components manufacturer and supplier will pay 526 workers $75,064 – representing $37,532 in unpaid overtime wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages – after federal investigators determined the company calculated their overtime pay incorrectly.

ANDOVER, Mass. – An employee of Ned Stevens Gutter Cleaning and General Contracting of Massachusetts Inc. was injured when he fell 9 feet from a garage roof in Lexington on Oct. 24, 2016. It was the second such incident in Massachusetts in less than a year for the New Jersey-based company that specializes in cleaning gutters and roofs. On Nov. 29, 2015, another employee fell 26 feet from a roof in Newton.

CUSSETA, Ala. – When she wasn’t employed as a temporary worker at a Cusseta manufacturer that stamps metal parts for Hyundai and Kia vehicles, Regina Allen Elsea was making final plans for her wedding and looking forward to a new life with her future husband.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division has recovered $123,574 in back wages and damages for 22 underpaid workers at four Mozzarella’s and Fitzy’s Pub Family restaurants in southern New England. The employers also paid $4,114 in civil monetary penalties.

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration found a Dudley contract packager failed to inform the agency as required that a temporary worker needed hospitalization after he sustained a serious injury on May 26, 2016. Even worse, the employer failed to contact emergency medical services immediately when the injury occurred.

Date of Action: Dec. 9, 2016

Type of Action: Lawsuit filed with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Administrative Law Judges 

Defendant(s): JBS USA Lux S.A.
Swift Beef Co.

State: Montana

Type of Award: National Dislocated Worker Grant

Award Amount Approved/Released: $225,000

Funding Awarded to: Montana Department of Labor and Industry

Number of Workers Served: Approximately 50

Date of Action: Dec. 9, 2016

Type of Action: Complaint

Name(s) of Defendant: Authorized Factory Service Inc.

Allegations: Based on an investigation conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration, the U.S. Secretary of Labor filed a complaint alleging:

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division has recovered $123,574 in back wages and damages for 22 underpaid workers at four Mozzarella’s and Fitzy’s Pub Family restaurants in southern New England. The employers also paid $4,114 in civil monetary penalties.

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The owner of three Buffalo-area gas stations has paid a total of $84,000 in back wages and damages to 41 employees after an investigation by the Buffalo area office of U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division.

Lakhwinder Gill – the owner of the Angola Food Mart Inc. (Angola), LHP Food Mart Inc. (Buffalo) and Lake Shore Mini Mart, Inc. (Hamburg) gas stations – will also pay $1,000 in civil monetary penalties.

Date of Action: Dec. 2, 2016

Type of Action: Complaint

Defendant(s): Matthew Kenneth Smith
Wind Turbine Solutions LLC
Wind Turbine Solutions LLC Retirement Trust

Employer: Six gas stations/convenience stores, all under common ownership, doing business as Arco AM/PM in the Sacramento, California area.

Sites: Lodi Oil Inc., 4931 N. Flag City Blvd, Lodi
Kamboj Oil Inc., 45 15^th St., West Sacramento
Wraich Petroleum Corp., 3921 Watt Avenue, Sacramento
Broadway Petroleum Inc., 2100 Broadway, Sacramento
Mehroke LLC, 902 Newville Road, Orlanda
Sacramento Petroleum Inc., 4745 Watt Avenue North Highlands