News and reports from the Department of Labor.

News Release: BATON ROUGE, LA - Federal safety inspectors have cited the operator of several Baton Rouge-area car wash, oil change, fueling and convenience store locations after a workplace violence investigation into the stabbing of an assistant manager on Feb. 6, 2022. The employee was treated and later released from the hospital.

News Release: WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently revised the agency’s Whistleblower Investigations Manual. The updated manual supersedes the January 2016 version and is the first complete overhaul since 2011.

A contractor in Appleton, Wis., was cited by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for exposing workers to falls and for failing to train them on how to use fall protection effectively.

There is one release scheduled to be published on Aug. 12.

News Release: MINNEAPOLIS - After a federal investigation found a Golden Valley franchisee of a national chain of home healthcare providers failed to pay overtime to certified nursing and patient care assistants as required by law - and then attempted to mask the violations - the U.S. Department of Labor has filed a complaint in federal court in Minneapolis to recover back wages and damages.

News Release: WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration is reopening the comment period for an additional 60 days on the proposal to reconsider and revoke the final approval of Arizona’s State Plan for Occupational Safety and Health. The agency is also postponing the public hearing tentatively scheduled for Aug. 16, 2022.

News Release: KANSAS CITY, MO - The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs has entered into a multi-establishment conciliation agreement with Cerner Corp. - a healthcare and information technology company - to resolve preliminary findings of a federal compliance evaluation that alleged the company discriminated in hiring Black and Asian applicants between 2015 to 2019.

A Washington orchard owner has been barred from participating in a federal program that permits the employment of foreign temporary agricultural workers.

News Release: PITTSBURGH - In return for providing essential homecare for people in need, 218 workers employed by a Pittsburgh-based home care agency expected their employer to pay them all their hard-earned wages. Instead, they found their employer denied them overtime wages, and manipulated records to hide the wage theft.

There was activity on two bills related to the Education and Labor Committee on Aug. 9.

News Release: PARK CITY, UT- A federal whistleblower investigation has found a Shreveport, Louisiana-based provider of helicopter ambulance services retaliated against a pilot in Utah who refused to fly twice in 2021 amid concerns about limited visibility.

News Release: WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Labor today announced an incremental award of $961,059 to support continued disaster-relief employment and employment and training services in northern California after devastating wildfires in August 2020.

News Release: HEBRON, KY - The initial discovery of illegal pay practices at a Hebron, Kentucky, warehouse by the U.S. Department of Labor led to a broader investigation that found systemic overtime violations by a California-based warehouse operator and e-commerce distributor, and a determination that the employer owes $1,025,909 in back wages to 995 warehouse workers in Kentucky and California.

News Release: LOUISVILLE, CO - An administrative law judge in Denver has affirmed the findings of a U.S. Department of Labor workplace safety investigation that determined a Louisville acute inpatient psychiatric treatment facility exposed direct care employees - such as nurses and mental health technicians - to aggressive patients who regularly assaulted and seriously injured them.

There is one release scheduled to be published on Aug. 10.