News and reports from the Department of Labor.

News Release: BELLEVUE, WA - A federal investigation has uncovered overtime pay violations at a Bellevue restaurant that state labor investigators in Washington cited in 2020 for underpaying workers.

News Release: LOS ANGELES - Today, U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh visited the Port of Los Angeles to discuss the Biden-Harris administration’s historic economic growth and the easing of supply chain disruptions. Secretary Walsh provided remarks alongside leadership from the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Rep. Nannette Barragán, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia.

News Release: WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has extended the comment period for the COVID-19 vaccination and testing emergency temporary standard to Jan. 19, 2022. OSHA extended the comment period by 45 days to allow stakeholders additional time to review the ETS and collect information and data necessary for comment.

News Release: NEW YORK - A federal workplace safety investigation has found a Queens construction contractor failed to provide and ensure the use of effective fall protection safeguards that would have prevented the death of a worker who fell about 60 feet from a roof on May 27, 2021, during demolition of a Brooklyn building.

News Release: MOBILE, AL - As the nation’s largest discount retailer, Dollar General stores are widely known by shoppers in 46 states for their low-price merchandise. At the U.S. Department of Labor, the company is recognized for its long history of violations and repeated failures to protect its workers from on-the-job hazards.

News Release: WASHINGTON - In 2010, an estimated 500 people in Washington state died by overdose , 83 percent of them blamed on controlled substances. A decade later, fatal overdoses claimed more than 1,726 residents’ lives. Of those, controlled substances, including opioids, led to 886 - or nearly 51 percent - of these deaths.

News Release: MANCHESTER, NH - A Vermont-based insulation and roofing contractor’s disregard of federal laws has led to the recovery of $163,492 in back wages and civil money penalties to resolve violations of the H-2B guest worker visa program and Fair Labor Standards Act. The company violated protections for seasonal workers employed under H-2B guest worker visas, as well as its year-round, non H-2B workers.

News Release: CHICAGO - The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration , Illinois On-Site Safety and Health Consultation Program, Lakeside Alliance and key participants will sign a strategic partnership to prevent serious hazards and enhance workplace safety and health practices for workers constructing the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park on Chicago’s South side.

News Release: WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of an $8.4 million cooperative agreement to the Pan American Development Foundation to empower civil society organizations and workers’ organizations to address child labor, forced labor and other unacceptable working conditions in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. The project will promote gender and racial equity and prioritize people of African descent, Garifuna and indigenous communities.

News Release: WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking public comment on its proposal to modify the methodology used to determine the hourly Adverse Effect Wage Rates for the H-2A program. The proposed changes will better enable the department to meet its statutory mandate to ensure the employment of H-2A workers will not adversely affect the wages of workers in the United States similarly employed.

News Release: MANCHESTER, NH - A New Hampshire residential carpentry contractor misclassified some employees as independent contractors and paid others straight-time wages when they worked over 40 hours in a workweek, a U.S. Department of Labor investigation has found.

News Release: MANCHESTER, NH - The owners of two southern New Hampshire wineries, restaurants, event venues and retail operations in Amherst and Derry violated the child labor provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act when they allowed 33 employees younger than 16 years of age to work more hours than allowed under the law.

News Release: GUYMON, OK - A Guymon processing and packing facility - operated by one of the nation’s largest pork processors - failed to prevent workers from being exposed to repetitive motion injuries and did not record injuries that needed more than basic first-aid.

News Release: LOUISVILLE, KY - A Louisville pharmacist who fraudulently billed healthcare benefit plans for $188,157 in unfilled prescriptions will serve 9 months in prison and 2 years of supervised release after pleading guilty in federal court.

News Release: MONTICELLO, AR - A knot saw operator suffered a partial amputation of an index finger in June 2021 when his hand came in contact with a rotating blade that lacked adequate machine guarding. A few weeks earlier, a similar saw at the Maxwell Hardwood Flooring plant in Monticello lacerated a co-worker’s palm severely, leaving them with nerve damage.