CHICAGO — Nearly 70 million workers lack access to an employer-sponsored retirement plan. Many states are seeking ways to expand savings options for these workers. It is against this backdrop that the U.S. Department of Labor has published a notice of proposed rulemaking and an interpretive bulletin meant to guide states as they create programs that help more workers save for retirement, and that do not run afoul of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

TEMPLE, Texas — Twice in 14 months, MooreCo Inc. temporary workers were seriously injured when inadequately guarded machines pulled them in, removing skin from the wrist up to the shoulder in the most recent incident, and from the wrist down in an earlier incident. As a result of the earlier incident, the employee's fingertips were also amputated.

Employer name: Tomra NY Recycling LLC, 31 Opus Blvd., Schenectady, New York 12306

Reason for inspection: A worker at the company's Schenectady recycling facility was operating a baler on May 14, 2015, when he was struck by a forklift that was attempting to pass by. The worker sustained a compound leg fracture.

VOLGA, S.D. — A federal administrative law judge upheld the findings of a U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation that led to the debarment of a Volga dairy farmer and an Aberdeen-based employment agency from a program that allows employers to hire temporary foreign labor for agricultural work. The judge also agreed that the dairy farmer owed $38,173 in wages to 15 U.S. workers after the domestic employees received lower earnings than the foreign workers.

Design Plastering Inc., Design Plastering West LLC cited for multiple violations

DALLAS – A fall from a third-story balcony killed 44-year-old Jorge Carrion Torres as he worked on the exterior of an apartment complex on May 14, 2015. Torres, who had been on the job for one month, was applying stucco underlayment to the balcony walls when the incident occurred. His employer had not installed scaffolding and had not provided Torres or his co-workers with personal fall protection.

DALLAS — A fall from a third-story balcony killed 44-year-old Jorge Carrion Torres as he worked on the exterior of an apartment complex on May 14, 2015. Torres, who had been on the job for one month, was applying stucco underlayment to the balcony walls when the incident occurred. His employer had not installed scaffolding and had not provided Torres or his co-workers with personal fall protection.

Employer name: Alberto El Romero is located at 630 Mifflin Street in Philadelphia. Workers were performing stucco operations on a work site located at 1011 South 7th Street in Philadelphia.

Citations issued: On November 5, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations for two serious and five repeat violations.

Funding Recipient: Winrock International

Total Funding: $4.5 million

Purpose: Implement a project to empower cocoa-growing communities and help youth further their education or develop marketable skills.

Location: Ghana

Employers' names: Genesis Today Inc. and Texas Management Division Inc., doing business as TMD Temporaries, in Austin, Texas

Citations issued: Nov. 9, 2015

Participants:

State: South Carolina

Type of Award: National Dislocated Worker Grant

Total Amount Approved: $3,223,968

Initial Award Amount Released: $1,074,656

Funding Awarded to: South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce

Number of Workers Served: Approximately 165

WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez issued the following statement about the October 2015 Employment Situation report released today:

"The nation continues to bounce back from our worst economic crisis in generations. October was the most robust month of job growth in 2015, with total nonfarm employment increasing by 271,000.

WASHINGTON — When the government of Paraguay established its Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security in 2014, it demonstrated a commitment to tackling important challenges, including combating child labor and strengthening enforcement of its labor laws. To help achieve this goal, it reached out to the U.S. Department of Labor to help build the capacity of its new ministry.

Who: U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez Acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and Training Teresa Gerton Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Disability Employment Policy Jennifer Sheehy

Employer name: Rockvale Construction LLC, 4108 East Newport Road in Kinzers, Pennsylvania

The inspected worksite was located at 7 Meadow Ridge Road in Temple, Pennsylvania, where new multi-family residential construction is underway.

Citations issued: On Oct. 28, 2015, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued Rockvale Construction LLC two willful citations.

Mass-Granite Inc. faces additional $87K in OSHA penalties for 29 violations

Employer name: Mass-Granite Inc., 49 Knox Trail, Acton, Massachusetts 01720

Rule would update Equal Employment Opportunity regulations for first time since 1978

WASHINGTON — In an effort to promote inclusive workplaces that welcome the skills and talents of workers with disabilities, the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy signed an alliance agreement today with the Families and Work Institute, a New York-based non-profit that conducts research to inform innovative solutions to the challenges facing today's workplaces, families and communities.