July 30, 2024

Department of Labor, Office of the Trade Representative reach agreement with Mexican government to protect labor rights at Puebla Volkswagen plant

WASHINGTON – The U.S. and Mexican governments today announced an agreement on a course of remediation at the Volkswagen vehicle assembly plant in Puebla, Mexico, in response to a petition filed under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement’s Rapid Response Labor Mechanism. 

July 30, 2024

Federal court awards $35.8M in back wages, damages in historic recovery after investigation finds wage theft by Pennsylvania healthcare employers

PITTSBURGH – In one of the nation’s largest wage recovery judgments, a Pennsylvania federal court has awarded $35.8 million in overtime back wages and liquidated damages to 6,000 current and former workers employed by the operators of 15 residential skilled nursing, rehabilitation and assisted living facilities in western Pennsylvania that willfully denied them overtime pay.

July 29, 2024

US Department of Labor files suit to force Houston-area owner, operator of homes for people with special needs to pay overtime wages, damages

HOUSTON – The U.S. Department of Labor has asked a federal court in Houston to stop the owner and operator of 17 single-family residential group homes and a day habilitation center for adults with disabilities from violating several federal employment regulations and to pay dozens of current and former employees back wages they’re owed as well as damages.

July 29, 2024

Department of Labor finds appalling disregard of safety standards by building contractor in collapse of Boise airport hangar that killed 3 workers

BOISE, ID – A federal workplace safety investigation into the fatal injury of three workers and injuries to at least eight others, after an airport hangar collapsed near the Boise Airport in January 2024, found the building contractor ignored standard safety procedures and visible warning signs during construction.

July 29, 2024

Departamento de Trabajo recupera $129K en propinas, compensación para empleados de pizzería de Vancouver a los que se les negó pagas completas

Empleador:    Investier LLC, operando como Round Table Pizza

                             5016 NE Thurston Way

                             Vancouver, WA 98684

July 29, 2024

Department of Labor recovers $129K in tips, damages for employees deprived full earnings by Vancouver pizza franchise operator

Employer:      Investier LLC, operating as Round Table Pizza

                            5016 NE Thurston Way

                            Vancouver, WA 98684

July 29, 2024

Departamento de Trabajo recupera $475K para 32 empleados a los que dueño de Juan’s Flaming Fajitas & Cantina en Las Vegas no pagó sobretiempo

LAS VEGAS – El Departamento de Trabajo de EE.UU. ha recuperado $475,385 en salarios no pagados y compensación por daños del dueño de tres restaurantes Juan’s Flaming Fajitas & Cantina en Las Vegas y Henderson que no combinó las horas trabajadas por 32 empleados en más de una ubicación y negó inapropiadamente los salarios por sobretiempo ganados por los trabajadores.

July 29, 2024

US Department of Labor recovers $475K for 32 employees denied overtime wages by owner of Juan’s Flaming Fajitas & Cantina restaurants in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $475,385 in back wages and liquidated damages from the owner of three Juan’s Flaming Fajitas & Cantina restaurants in Las Vegas and Henderson who did not combine hours worked by 32 employees at more than one location and improperly withheld overtime wages earned by employees.

July 29, 2024

Chicago-area framing contractor continues to expose employees to deadly fall hazards as violations multiply, federal fines reach new heights

RIVER GROVE, IL – Two federal workplace safety investigations have found a Chicago-area framing contractor - already facing debt collection for more than $100,000 in fines for violations identified in 2022 - continuing to expose employees to deadly fall hazards and defying the U.S. Department of Labor’s requests for documents and information related to the contractor’s business and workers safety and health.

July 29, 2024

Department of Labor completed impact inspections at 15 mines with histories of repeated health, safety violations in June 2024

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that its Mine Safety and Health Administration completed impact inspections at 15 mines in 12 states in June 2024 and cited mine operators for 195 violations.

The agency began conducting impact inspections after an April 2010 explosion in West Virginia at the Upper Big Branch Mine killed 29 miners. 

July 25, 2024

US Department of Labor recovers $135K in back wages, damages for 57 employees denied overtime by Minnesota homecare provider

Employers:    Axis Home PCA Agency Inc. 

Cubtan Nur, owner                    

Action:           Consent judgment and order 

July 25, 2024

Federal cable, telecommunications contractor to pay $80K to resolve alleged hiring discrimination at Hauppauge, New York, facility

NEW YORK – The U.S. Department of Labor announced its Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs has entered into a conciliation agreement with a federal provider of cable and telecommunications services to resolve allegations of gender-based hiring discrimination at the company’s Hauppauge facilities.

July 25, 2024

Department of Labor, Office of the Trade Representative seek review of alleged labor rights denial at Impro Industries in San Luis Potosí

WASHINGTON – The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement’s Interagency Labor Committee for Monitoring and Enforcement today requested the Mexican government conduct a review at Impro Industries, a Chinese-owned parts manufacturer in San Luis Potosí, based on its finding that workers’ rights were denied at the facility.

The Secretary of Labor and U.S. Trade Representative co-chair the Interagency Labor Committee.

July 25, 2024

US Department of Labor investigation leads major maritime cargo shipping operator to change reporting policy for employees

NORFOLK, VA – As part of a settlement with the U.S. Department of Labor, Maersk Line Limited - one of the world’s largest marine cargo services providers - will change its safety reporting policies and compensate a seaman the company terminated after they reported safety concerns to the U.S. Coast Guard without first notifying their employer.

July 25, 2024

Framing contractor again found exposing workers to deadly fall hazards, twice in less than 2 weeks at Perrysburg worksites; faces $199K in fines

PERRYSBURG, OH – Twice in less than two weeks, federal workplace safety inspectors found an Indiana contractor exposing employees to deadly risks of falls from elevation while they did framing work at two homes under construction in Perrysburg. 

July 25, 2024

US Department of Labor recovers more than $1M in back wages from South Carolina federal contractor for 43 workers

GOOSE CREEK, SC – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $1,091,515 in back wages for 43 employees of a Goose Creek federal contractor that paid them rates lower than required by federal law.

July 25, 2024

US Department of Labor recovers more than $1.5M in back wages, damages for 430 HVAC technicians misclassified by Dallas-area company

DALLAS  In one of the largest recoveries of its kind, the U.S. Department of Labor has recouped more than $1.5 million in unpaid overtime wages and damages from a heating, ventilation and air conditioning company that deprived 430 technicians of their rights, protections and benefits under law by misclassifying them as independent contractors.

July 25, 2024

US Department of Labor issues statement on United Airlines’ leave policies

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Administrator Jessica Looman issued the following statement in response to multiple inquiries regarding United Airlines’ leave policies:

July 25, 2024

Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report

In the week ending July 20, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 235,000, a decrease of 10,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 2,000 from 243,000 to 245,000. The 4-week moving average was 235,500, an increase of 250 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 500 from 234,750 to 235,250.