News from February 2023
By Press release submission | Feb 26, 2023
Labor Department fines pizza restaurants $30K for child labor violations, recovers $12K for two managers illegally denied overtime wages
By Press release submission | Feb 26, 2023
The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a federal court order requiring an Illinois home healthcare provider to pay 69 workers $1.1 million in back wages and damages for its failure to pay these workers for all hours worked.
By Press release submission | Feb 26, 2023
U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigators found the operator of a chain of Jacksonville-area fast-food restaurants illegally kept a portion of employees’ tips, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
By Press release submission | Feb 26, 2023
The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $20,107 in back wages for a Georgia bank employee who suffered wrongful retaliation and termination after the financial institution violated their rights under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.
By Press release submission | Feb 26, 2023
The U.S. Department of Labor, the IRS and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation today released Federal Register notices that announce changes to the 2023 Form 5500 Annual Return/Report of Employee Benefit Plan and Form 5500-SF Short Form.
By Press release submission | Feb 26, 2023
As part of its year-long commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the passage of the Family and Medical Leave Act, the U.S. Department of Labor today hosted an online roundtable discussion and launched a new web page to inform workers about federal regulations for job-protected leave to care for a family member.
By Press release submission | Feb 26, 2023
A federal panel has affirmed that Walmart Inc. violated federal workplace safety standards at its warehouse in Johnstown, New York, when it failed to prevent stored merchandise from falling onto – and seriously injuring – an employee in 2017. The Feb. 9, 2023, decision by the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission found the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited the global discount retailer correctly for failing to meet the agency's safety standard for storage of material that requires that items stored in tiers must be stable and secure against sliding and collapse. The commission also ordered Walmart to correct the cited hazards within six months, given the physical changes the company must make at the warehouse to come into compliance with the standard. In affirming the citation, the commission rejected Walmart's defense that the storage racks were "standard in the industry," finding that even if true – which Walmart did not prove – its managers knew the racks posed a hazard to employees. In response to a report of a worker's injury on Feb. 25, 2017, OSHA investigators determined that the Walmart warehouse worker suffered long-term injury when their head and neck were struck by a package that fell from storage racks above. Inspectors learned another employee operating a forklift in an adjacent aisle inadvertently struck the pallet on which the merchandise was stacked. OSHA then issued Walmart Inc. a citation for violating the agency's standard for secure storage and proposed a $10,684 penalty. The commission's decision comes after Walmart challenged OSHA's findings, claiming the standard did not apply to the pallets Walmart used in its racking system. After several years of litigation, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit found the cited standard applied to Walmart and directed the commission to again review the matter. The retail giant now has 60 days to appeal the decision. Walmart operates about 10,500 stores and clubs under 46 banners in 24 countries and e-commerce websites. The company employs about 2.3 million people around the world, including nearly 1.6 million in the U.S.
By Press release submission | Feb 26, 2023
Soon after federal workplace safety inspectors arrived at a Dollar Tree store in Mount Pleasant, Texas, they found the national discount retailer again shortchanging employee safety – continuing a pattern of disregard dating back to 2017 – by allowing storeroom merchandise to block exits and walkways and stacking boxes high enough to fall on workers.
By Press release submission | Feb 26, 2023
Federal workplace safety inspectors, once again, found that the world's largest e-commerce company exposed workers to hazardous conditions at one of its distribution centers.
By Press release submission | Feb 26, 2023
Two workers at a North Texas dental practice will share $15,706 in back wages to be paid by the dentists who fired them for raising concerns about COVID-19 safety measures in Spring 2020, following a federal whistleblower investigation and litigation by the U.S. Department of Labor.
By Press release submission | Feb 26, 2023
Working in the Alaskan fishing industry – an occupation already regarded as one of the nation's most dangerous – employees aboard the F/V Pacific Producer faced dangers purely of their employer's making, an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor and U.S. Coast Guard has found.
By Press release submission | Feb 26, 2023
The U.S. Department of Labor announced that its Occupational Safety and Health Administration is inviting the public and workplace safety stakeholders to share their comments on how the agency can best honor companies who make exceptional commitments to workplace safety and health, and encourage others to follow.
By Press release submission | Feb 26, 2023
In less than two years, three workers at a leading tool manufacturer in Barberton suffered injuries from unguarded machinery.
By Press release submission | Feb 26, 2023
The department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Consulate of Mexico have renewed a two-year alliance to provide safety training and resources to Mexican nationals working in Colorado in an effort educate them on their rights and employers' responsibilities under the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
By Press release submission | Feb 26, 2023
In 2022, 21.3 percent of persons with a disability were employed, up from 19.1 percent in 2021,the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. For persons without a disability, 65.4percent were employed in 2022, up from 63.7 percent in the prior year.
By Press release submission | Feb 26, 2023
From September 2021 to September 2022, employment increased in 346 of the 355 largest U.S. counties, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. In September 2022, national employment increased to 151.2 million, a 4.3-percent increase over the year, as measured by the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) program. Orleans, LA, had the largest over-the-year increase in employment, with a gain of 10.7 percent.
By Press release submission | Feb 26, 2023
In 2022, there were 23 major work stoppages beginning in the year, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.
By Press release submission | Feb 26, 2023
U.S. import prices decreased 0.2 percent in January following a revised 0.1-percent drop the previous month, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.
By Press release submission | Feb 26, 2023
The Producer Price Index for final demand increased 0.7 percent in January, seasonally adjusted, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.
By State Newswire Report | Feb 26, 2023
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and U.S. Ambassador Jeffrey Flake dedicated the new U.S. Embassy in Ankara, underscoring their strong commitment to the U.S.-Turkey alliance, and Turkey's role as a NATO ally, a critical regional partner, and an important U.S. security partner.
