News and reports from the Department of Labor.

The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $195,960 in back wages and damages for 22 home care workers employed by JG Adult Family Home LLC in Auburn, Washington. The recovery follows an investigation by the Department's Wage and Hour Division, which found that the employer did not pay caregivers overtime rates for hours worked over 40 in a workweek, violating the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Instead, employees were paid a daily rate regardless of hours worked. Additionally, some employees were denied the required federal minimum wage.

The U.S. Department of Labor has announced an incremental award of $600,000 to the North Carolina Department of Commerce’s Division of Workforce Solutions. This funding aims to continue employment and training services for workers displaced by layoffs in 10 counties following a fire that led to the closure of QVC Rocky Mount Inc.’s distribution center in December 2021.

HUBBARD, OH—A Hubbard industrial manufacturer failed to protect its employees from molten metal heated to more than 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, the U.S. Department of Labor determined after an investigation into how a 30-year-old employee suffered fatal injuries.

The U.S. Department of Labor announced the allocation of over $57 million in grants to aid veterans experiencing or at risk of homelessness in overcoming employment barriers and securing meaningful jobs. The funds, administered by the Veterans’ Employment and Training Service through the Homeless Veterans’ Reintegration Program (HVRP), include more than $15 million for 34 new three-year grants and $42 million for 123 organizations currently in their second or third years within the program.

The U.S. Department of Labor announced the selection of eight new partners for its Employment Navigator and Partnership Program (ENPP), part of the Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (VETS). The ENPP aims to provide personalized employment assistance to service members transitioning from active duty and their spouses.

Since 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor has reported an increase in wage theft by customs brokers and logistics companies near the Mexican border. Recent investigations in San Diego have recovered nearly $840,000 for 32 employees, some of whom were paid less than $3 per hour.

A federal workplace safety investigation has determined that a Florida labor contractor could have prevented the fatal illness of a 41-year-old worker who collapsed while harvesting oranges at Alico Farms in December 2023. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) found that Guerrero Ag LLC failed to take necessary steps to protect employees from high temperatures, which reached approximately 92 degrees on the day of the incident.

Desde 2021, el Departamento de Trabajo de EE.UU. ha observado un aumento en el robo de salarios por parte de almacenes y empresas de transporte de carga y logística que operan en la frontera con México. Tres investigaciones recientes en San Diego han resultado en la recuperación de casi $840,000 para 32 empleados. Trabajadores de una empresa recibían menos de $3 por hora.

The U.S. Department of Labor has initiated debt collection procedures against Hoenigman Landscaping Co. LLC, a Newbury-based landscaping company, following allegations that the company threatened workers who cooperated with a federal investigation. The investigation found that the company and its owner, Richard Hoenigman, owe $169,015 in back wages and damages to 19 affected workers.

The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that its Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) completed impact inspections in May 2024 at 15 mines across 12 states, resulting in the identification of 300 violations and one safeguard.

ATLANTA – A five-man crew’s first day working to remove tar and stone from metal roof panels at a Macon warehouse ended abruptly in November 2023 when a 54-year-old laborer suffered fatal injuries after stepping on a skylight and falling about 19 feet. A U.S. Department of Labor investigation found that the Georgia construction contractor could have prevented the incident by providing their employees with required fall protection.

The U.S. Department of Labor has secured a consent judgment in federal court mandating a City of Industry meat processor and a Downey staffing agency to forfeit $327,484 in illegal profits from sales linked to oppressive child labor. Additionally, the employers must pay $62,516 in penalties.

A construction contractor could have prevented an employee’s fatal fall at a Smyrna, New York job site in December 2023 by providing adequate fall protection and training employees in its effective use, a U.S. Department of Labor investigation found.

The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement’s Interagency Labor Committee for Monitoring and Enforcement has requested that the government of Mexico review allegations that workers’ rights are being denied by Industrias Tecnos, a munitions manufacturing facility in Cuernavaca. The U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Trade Representative co-chair the Interagency Labor Committee.

The Department of Labor announced today that its Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has issued a report to Congress on an interpretive bulletin related to fiduciary standards when selecting an annuity provider for a defined benefit pension plan. Interpretive Bulletin 95-1, which outlines these Employee Retirement Income Security Act fiduciary requirements, was first issued in 1995. EBSA issued this report in response to a SECURE 2.0 Act directive to review the bulletin, consult with the ERISA Advisory Council, and determine whether any amendments are necessary.