News and reports from the Department of Labor.

A federal investigation has found, for the third time in five years, that the operator of multiple psychiatric and rehabilitation facilities has failed to protect its workers from violent patient attacks. This includes an incident where an employee suffered serious injuries at a Melbourne location operated by Circles of Care Inc.

SOUTH BEND, IN – A U.S. District Court has ordered the operator of 61 liquor stores across two states to pay $354,633 in back wages and damages to 156 employees. The court also mandated that the owner post a statement and play a recorded video message informing workers of their right to cooperate with federal wage investigators. This order comes in response to a lawsuit against Bhola Singh, owner of Vishav Inc., for retaliation against workers who spoke with investigators from the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division.

The Department of Labor has taken an important step in addressing the dangers of workplace heat and moved closer to publishing a proposed rule to reducing the significant health risks of heat exposure for U.S. workers in outdoor and indoor settings.

The Department of Labor today announced strategic changes to the structure of its Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s regional operations designed to direct its resources effectively and make the agency more resilient. The changes include the creation of a new OSHA regional office in Birmingham, Alabama, overseeing agency operations in the state, and those in Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee as well as the Florida Panhandle. The Birmingham Region will address the area’s growing worker population and the hazardous work done by people...

"An administrative law judge has upheld the findings of a U.S. Department of Labor investigation into the employment practices of a Bowie, Maryland concrete subcontractor and its owners that found the employers wrongly classified workers on a federally funded affordable housing project in the District of Columbia in violation of federal regulations.

The U.S. Department of Labor finds that a restaurant in Arkansas illegally fired a worker who took leave protected by federal law.

The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a federal consent order and judgment requiring three service providers of the United Employee Benefit Fund, a Chicago-based multiple employer welfare arrangement, to restore $883,333 to the fund and pay $176,666 in penalties for violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Rail Modal Group LLC after a truck struck and severely injured a yard manager directing traffic at a Fremont grain yard on Jan. 2, 2024. This incident came shortly after OSHA received reports of unsafe working conditions regarding struck-by vehicle hazards at the facility in November 2023.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration is encouraging construction industry employers and workers across the nation to take part in its 11th annual National Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction from May 6-10. The event focuses attention on preventing the industry’s leading cause of worker deaths.

St. Louis contractor faces $258K in fines after exposing roofing workers to potentially deadly fall hazards 5 times in 7 weeks at Wentzville worksites

The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division discovered that Mi Casita Mexican Restaurant Inc., operating as El Lorito, in Fort Smith, Arkansas, unlawfully dismissed an employee for utilizing federally protected medical leave. The investigation concluded that the employer failed to reinstate the worker to a comparable position upon their return from leave and subsequently fired them for refusing to relocate to a different restaurant location in another town. As a result, the employer was required to compensate the former employee for lost hourly wages and tips...

On May 3, 2024, U.S. District judge Jane M. Beckering ordered Roseline Rowan, owner of Medhealth Suppliers & Providers Inc., to pay $190,648 in back wages and liquidated damages to four employees after the Wage and Hour Division found violations of the Fair Labor Standard Act’s minimum wage, overtime, and recordkeeping provisions. The employees, who worked as live-in caregivers at group homes in Lansing, were not paid appropriately for their services.Wage and Hour District Director Mary O’Rourke in Grand Rapids emphasized the importance of fair compensation, stating, “The...

SIOUX CITY, IA – The Department of Labor has reached an agreement with Fayette Janitorial Service LLC, a Tennessee cleaning contractor, to address violations related to child labor employment in sanitation contracts. The company has agreed to pay $649,304 in civil money penalties and take proactive steps to prevent the employment of children in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.The investigation by the department's Wage and Hour Division revealed that at least 24 children, some as young as 13 years old, were employed by Fayette Janitorial Service at two separate...

The U.S. Department of Labor has cited the Pan-O-Gold Baking Company, operating as Village Hearth, following an investigation into a disabling injury suffered by an employee at their Sun Prairie commercial baking facility. According to OSHA Area Director Chad Greenwood, the employee could have been spared from life-altering injuries if proper safety procedures had been in place.Greenwood stated, “Pan-O-Gold Baking Company could have prevented this employee from suffering life-altering injuries by implementing required safety procedures to stop the machine from...

The US Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has found that Gerresheimer Glass Inc., a medical glass manufacturer in Chicago Heights, continues to neglect machine safety procedures, putting its workers at risk. Following a recent workplace safety inspection, OSHA issued repeat violations to the company for failing to adequately train employees in machine safety procedures.According to OSHA, Gerresheimer Glass Inc. was cited for several violations, including the failure to train authorized employees in performing service and maintenance...