US Department of Labor investigation finds Birmingham construction company willfully exposed workers to trench collapse at Bessemer worksite

-
US Department of Labor investigation finds Birmingham construction company willfully exposed workers to trench collapse at Bessemer worksite BIRMINGHAM – A U.S. Department of Labor investigation has found numerous safety hazards at a civil construction employer’s worksite following a trench collapse in Jefferson County. The department’sOccupational Safety and Health Administration investigators found CB&A Construction LLC workers removed and installed drain pipes for Jefferson County under a suspended load, without hard hats, and at the edge of an excavation that lacked protective restraints.OSHA cited CB&A Construction with a willful violation and proposed $170,145 in penalties.CB&A Construction LLC has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. Penalties and citations may...
Post a Comment

Federal court approves order for Succasunna landscaper to pay $400K in back wages, damages to 32 workers denied overtime wages

-
Federal court approves order for Succasunna landscaper to pay $400K in back wages, damages to 32 workers denied overtime wages
SUCCASUNNA, NJ – A federal court has approved a consent judgment ordering a Succasunna landscaping company and its owner to pay $400,000 in back wages and damages after the U.S. Department of Labor found the employer denied 32 of its workers the overtime pay they earned. The court’s action follows an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division that determined Fullerton Landscapes LLC – operating as Fullerton Landscape Architects – and owner Douglas B. Fullerton failed to pay 32 employees time-and-a-half for hours over 40 in a workweek, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Following litigation by the department’s Office of the Solicitor, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey ordered the company and its owner to pay a total of $200,000 in overtime back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages to the affected workers. “Paying straight-time rates or rates below straight time for overtime hours worked shortchanges workers of the hard-earned wages they need to make ends meet, and violates the Fair Labor Standards Act,” said Wage and Hour District Director Paula Ruffin in Mountainside, New Jersey. “Unfortunately, these types of violations are common in the landscaping services industry. We encourage employers to contact the Wage and Hour Division about their responsibilities and workers to contact the agency with questions about their rights.” The division’s Northern New Jersey District Office conducted the investigation. Rolando Valdez, a senior trial attorney in the department’s New York Regional Office of the Solicitor litigated the case. View the complaint and consent judgment. In fiscal year 2021, the Wage and Hour Division recovered $1.2 million for more than 1,000 workers in the landscaping services industry. With more than 11 million job openings in the U.S. reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in April 2022 coupled with 4.4 million workers quitting their jobs, employers are find it difficult to fill positions they need to be successful. Employers who pay workers the wages they are due  will have a competitive advantage over those who don’t. “The U.S. Department of Labor vigorously pursued legal action to ensure that all employees are properly compensated as required by the law. The department will continue to pursue litigation where employers fail to comply with the FLSA’s minimum wage and overtime requirements,” said Regional Solicitor of Labor Jeffrey Rogoff in New York. Based in Succasunna, Fullerton Landscapes LLC provides residential, commercial and public design and construction landscaping services. For information about laws enforced by the division, contact the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Workers can call the Wage and Hour Division confidentially with questions, regardless of immigration status, and the department can speak with callers in more than 200 languages. The Wage and Hour Division has a number of resources online for workers and employers, including an FLSA compliance toolkit. Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division.

Published at June 16, 2022 at 05:00PM
Read more at https://dol.gov

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Settlement affirms willful OSHA violations, $215K penalties, against contractors for fall hazards at multiple New Jersey work sites

-
Settlement affirms willful OSHA violations, $215K penalties, against contractors for fall hazards at multiple New Jersey work sites HASBROUCK HEIGHTS, NJ – Two related North Jersey construction contractor companies – Primetime Construction LLC and its subsidiary Primetime Contractors LLC of Paterson – have agreed to pay $215,000 in penalties and undertake several significant safety measures to resolve numerous safety violations found at five Paterson construction worksites in 2021, as part of a settlement with the U.S. Department of Labor.The department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration initially cited Primetime Contractors LLC for four willful violations that occurred in September 2021 after agency inspectors found the employer exposing workers to fall hazards by repeatedly failing to ensure construction site stairways at company worksites had handrails and stair rails, even after being counseled by OSHA about the relevant safety requirements. Primetime Contrac...
Read more

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

-
St. Louis contractor faces $258K in fines after exposing roofing workers to potentially deadly fall hazards 5 times in 7 weeks at Wentzville worksites ST. LOUIS – Federal workplace safety inspectors have cited a Missouri roofing contractor for 21 violations for illegally exposing roof workers — five times in seven weeks — at six Wentzville residential worksites to the dangers of fall hazards, the construction industry’s leading cause of serious injuries and death. The Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration opened its investigations after observing 13 Construction & Pro Services LLC allowing its employees to work on roofs without required protection equipment at separate sites on Oct. 31, Nov. 2 and Dec. 14, 2023.Specifically, OSHA alleges the company allowed employees to work without protection at heights greater than six feet, did not have a competent person inspect and evaluate job site hazards daily and failed to train workers to recognize ...
Read more

Department of Labor encourages construction industry employers, stakeholders to join 2024 National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls

-
Department of Labor encourages construction industry employers, stakeholders to join 2024 National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls WASHINGTON – 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.The national stand-down recommends employers and workers pause voluntarily during the workday for safety demonstrations, hazard recognition and fall prevention training, and “tool-box” talks about hazards, protective methods and their company’s safety policies, goals and expectations. This year, OSHA is partnering with Construction Safety Week, an organization of more than 70 national and global construction firms, to enlist employers in the U.S. to create the largest industry-wide cons...
Read more