News and reports from the Department of Labor.

News Release: OKLAHOMA CITY - Federal workplace safety investigators have determined that an Arkansas construction contractor failed to test oxygen levels in the confined space before two workers entered a sewer 20 feet below ground at an Edmond work site and died because of a lack of oxygen.

Release: Employer: CHU Contracting Inc. 14020 Thunderbolt Place, Suite 300 Chantilly, Virginia 20151

Release: Employer name: Oak Texas Bar & Grill LLC

News Release: WASHINGTON - Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health Christopher J. Williamson issued the following statement in recognition of Dec. 6, 2022, as National Miners Day:

News Release: LINCOLN, NE - A federal court in Nebraska today entered a consent order and judgment in which Packers Sanitation Services Inc. LTD - one of the nation’s largest providers of food safety sanitation services - agreed to immediately comply with child labor laws at all facilities nationwide and to take significant steps to ensure future compliance, including employing an outside compliance specialist.

News Release: LOS ANGELES - The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $370,194 in back wages and liquidated damages from the owners of two restaurants in Los Angeles and Pasadena who illegally denied overtime wages to 54 workers, and attempted to hide their misdeeds.

News Release: ST. PETERSBURG, FL - A U.S. Department of Labor investigation has found a St. Petersburg restaurant ran afoul of federal law, leading to the recovery of $28,162 in back wages for 36 employees, and changes to the employers’ pay practices. The employer illegally paid kitchen staff, dishwashers, and servers as independent contractors.

News Release: SEATTLE - While 77 care workers employed by Seattle-area adult family home providers worked long hours to ensure the well-being and daily needs of older adults and people with disabilities, a federal investigation has found their employers were shortchanging them $530,418 in wages.

News Release: PANAMA CITY BEACH, FL - The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $503,053 in back wages and liquidated damages for 227 workers of a Panama City Beach hotel staffing agency that denied them full wages and benefits when the employer misclassified them as independent contractors.

News Release: PHOENIX - The U.S. Department of Labor is seeking current and former employees of a Tempe construction contractor who may be owed a share of more than $2.6 million in overtime wages and damages recovered after a federal court approved a consent judgment in response to litigation and a long-standing investigation by the department.

News Release: WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Labor, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the European Commission today led the inaugural principals’ meeting of the U.S. and European Union tripartite Trade and Labor Dialogue.

News Release: Participant: Blackstone Power Generation LLC, Blackstone, Massachusetts.

News Release: Today, Education and Labor Committee Republican Leader Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI) introduced the College Cost Transparency and Student Protection Act, which makes college cost decisions more consumer friendly. The Congresswomen introduced this legislation in response to a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report which found nearly two-thirds of colleges are not following best practice recommendations regarding financial aid offer letters.

News Release: PUEBLO, CO - A federal workplace safety investigation into the deaths of two workers buried under a pile of shifting coal at a Pueblo industrial loading facility in June 2022 found that their employer failed to follow required federal standards and did not train workers on safety processes.

News Release: Today, Education and Labor Committee Republican Leader Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and Civil Rights and Human Services Subcommittee Republican Leader Russ Fulcher (R-ID) sent a letter to Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Chair Charlotte A. Burrows to sound the alarm on the agency’s draft Strategic Plan, which misses opportunities for making EEOC more responsive to workers and employers.