April 2, 2015

WHD News Release: Honolulu electrical contractor owes workers more than $1.2M in back wages, submits false records and attempts to obstruct investigators [04/02/2015]

HONOLULU — A federal electrical contractor, Lighting Services Inc. will pay 38 electricians/technicians more than $1.2 million in back wages after U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division investigators determined the company did not pay required prevailing wages to workers at Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe Bay. The division also found the employer submitted falsified payrolls and told workers to provide false information to investigators.

April 2, 2015

OSHA News Release: OSHA updates guidance for protecting healthcare and social service workers from workplace violence [04/02/2015]

WASHINGTON — In 2013, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported more than 23,000 significant injuries due to assault at work. More than 70 percent of these assaults were in healthcare and social service settings. Health care and social service workers are almost four times as likely to be injured as a result of violence than the average private sector worker.

April 1, 2015

OSHA News Brief: Lack of cave-in protections led to trench collapse, Bednar Landscape workers' deaths in Boonton [04/01/2015]

Employer name and location: Bednar Landscape Services Inc., located at 501 Division Street in Boonton, New Jersey. The company provides landscape, excavation and snow removal services throughout northern New Jersey.

April 1, 2015

OSHA News Brief: USPS cited for electrical hazards at Chicago's Clark Street distribution center [04/01/2015]

Employer name: United States Postal Service

Investigation site: 2643 N. Clark, Chicago, IL 60614

Date investigation initiated and what prompted inspection: On Jan. 14, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Chicago North Area Office initiated an inspection of the mail sorting facility after receiving a complaint alleging unsafe working conditions.

March 31, 2015

WHD News Brief: Rhode Island restaurant chain to pay over $100K in wages, damages to 32 underpaid employees following US Labor Department investigation [03/31/2015]

Employer name: CMG Holding Company, LLC d/b/a/ Cilantro Mexican Grill.

Investigation sites: 1255 Reservoir Ave., Cranston; 127 Weybosset St, Providence; 430 Newport Ave, Rumford;1650 Mineral Spring Ave, Providence; 166 JT Connell Highway, Newport; 712 Center of New England Boulevard, Coventry; 1759 Post Road, Warwick.

March 31, 2015

WHD News Release: Operator of 70 hotels in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana agrees to change business practices after US Labor Department finds significant wage violations [03/31/2015]

DETROIT — Workers in the hotel industry are hard-working people who make our beds, clean our rooms, maintain the property and greet us with a smile. Many of them earn low wages and often struggle to meet their basic needs. This challenge is made even more difficult when employers fail to pay them for all the hours they worked.

March 31, 2015

WHD News Brief: Raymond's to pay more than $325,500 in back wages for overtime, minimum wage violations at Ridgewood and Montclair, NJ, eateries [03/31/2015]

Employer: Raymond's Ridgewood LLC, restaurant owner

Sites: Raymond's restaurants located at 101 East Ridgewood Ave., Ridgewood, N.J., and 28 Church Street in Montclair, N.J.

March 31, 2015

WHD News Brief: Philadelphia-based farm labor contractor ordered to pay $146K in penalties for federal labor violations at Lumberton, New Jersey, nursery [03/31/2015]

Type of Action: Default Judgment

Respondents: Farm labor contractor Heng Heng Agency, Inc., and its owner Visith Oum

March 31, 2015

OSHA News Brief: OSHA fines Dayton, New Jersey, companies $64,200 after investigation finds blocked exit routes and chemical, noise and energy control hazards [03/31/2015]

Employers name and location: Imagine Screen Printing & Productions LLC, which imprints graphic design images onto apparel such as t-shirts and sweatshirts. Central Mills Inc., doing business as Freeze, sorts, packs and distributes the apparel to some of the nation's largest retailers, including Walmart, Macy's and Target.

Both companies are located at 473 Ridge Road in Dayton, New Jersey, and have the same management, maintenance employees and safety departments.

March 30, 2015

Fiduciaries to restore $485K to Bridgeport, Connecticut, retirement plan

Date of Action: March 19, 2015

Type of Action: Amended Consent Judgment and Order

Names of Defendant: Fletcher-Thompson, Inc. Savings Plan and Michael S. Marcinek, in their capacities as fiduciaries of the Fletcher-Thompson Inc. Savings Plan

March 30, 2015

Fiduciaries to restore $485K to Bridgeport, Connecticut, retirement plan

Date of Action: March 19, 2015

Type of Action: Amended Consent Judgment and Order

Names of Defendant: Fletcher-Thompson, Inc. Savings Plan and Michael S. Marcinek, in their capacities as fiduciaries of the Fletcher-Thompson Inc. Savings Plan

March 30, 2015

WHD News Release: US Department of Labor finds oil and gas industry workers in New Mexico, west Texas underpaid by more than $1.3M [03/30/2015]

ALBUQUERQUE — A day's work in an oilfield usually means long hours in physically demanding and exhausting conditions. Industry workers deserve every penny of their hard-earned wages. In the oil-and-gas-rich Southwest, the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division is making sure these workers get their pay. Since it launched an enforcement initiative covering New Mexico and west Texas in 2014, the agency has recovered more than $1.3 million owed to more than 1,300 workers.

March 30, 2015

OSHA News Release: Koser Iron Works faces penalties of more than $102K for exposing workers to machine, fire and explosion hazards, lack of training [03/30/2015]

BARRON, Wis. — Once again, workers were exposed to dangerous amputation hazards while fabricating metal products because safety mechanisms were not in place at Koser Iron Works Inc. Responding to a complaint, inspectors from the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration found during an inspection initiated on Oct. 1, 2014, two willful, four repeated and 12 serious safety violations, including lack of training and personal protective equipment.

March 30, 2015

OSHA News Release: Wood pellet manufacturer ignores serious safety hazards and fines, places workers at repeated risk of amputation and fire [03/30/2015]

NIAGARA, Wis. — For the fifth time in the past three years, U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspectors found workers at Wood Fibers Inc. at risk of amputation, fire and other life-threatening hazards in October 2014. Despite OSHA's effort, the company has failed to provide proof that hazards had been fixed or pay penalties from previous inspections.

March 30, 2015

OSHA News Release: Food warehouse avoids potential for catastrophic incident [03/30/2015]

HONOLULU — After two years of litigation to correct dozens of hazards that might have had catastrophic effects on its workers and the surrounding community, Unicold Corp. has agreed to make health and safety improvements at its refrigerated food warehouse in Honolulu. The company will also end its fight against $197,000 in penalties assessed in 2013 by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

March 27, 2015

OSHA News Release: Jacksonville, Florida, roofing contractor ignores fact that fall protection can be the difference between life and death [03/27/2015]

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Since 2013, 294 workers have been killed by falls, the leading cause of death in the construction trade. These incidents can often be prevented when employers use proper safety protections. Unfortunately for its employees, Great White Construction Inc. has repeatedly put the safety of its workers at risk, the U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspectors found.

March 27, 2015

OSHA News Brief: Florida-based contractor exposes its workers to 200-foot falls and silica dust at two work sites; OSHA cites company for serious safety and health hazards [03/27/2015]

Employer name: Maxim Construction Group Corp. of Hallandale Beach, Florida.

Inspection sites: 230 174th Street Sunny Isles Beach, Florida 33160 1400 S. Ocean Drive, Hollywood, Florida 33019

Date investigation initiated: OSHA initiated the October 2, 2014 safety and health inspections after receiving complaints alleging fall hazards at two work sites.

March 27, 2015

OPA News Release: Statement of US Labor Secretary Perez about Sen. Reid's retirement [03/27/2015]

WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez issued the following statement on today's announcement by Senator Harry Reid of his intention to retire:

"From his roots in a mining community, to the boxing ring, to his work as an officer with the Capitol Police, to the top position in the United States Senate, few public servants in America embody the values of hard work, humility and sacrifice better than Senator Harry Reid.

March 27, 2015

OSHA News Release: Labor Secretary announces bulletin on preventing green tobacco sickness [03/27/2015]

WASHINGTON — Dehydration, dizziness, headaches and vomiting are just a few of the symptoms of nicotine poisoning, also known as "green tobacco sickness." Workers who plant, cultivate and harvest tobacco are particularly at risk. U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez today announced the release of a recommended practices bulletin with guidance on reducing the hazards for tobacco workers.

March 27, 2015

OFCCP News Release: Comment period on proposed sex discrimination rule extended [03/27/2015]

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor has announced a two-week extension of the comment period for its proposed rule governing the obligations of federal contractors and subcontractors not to discriminate on the basis of sex in their employment practices.