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Showing posts from February, 2024

Department of Labor will celebrate benefits of Registered Apprenticeships as valuable pathway to good jobs during first Youth Apprenticeship Week

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Department of Labor will celebrate benefits of Registered Apprenticeships as valuable pathway to good jobs during first Youth Apprenticeship Week WASHINGTON – The Department of Labor today announced that the nation will celebrate the benefits of Registered Apprenticeships and the opportunities they create for youth and young adults with 320 special events and more than 70 proclamations scheduled across the U.S. to mark the first annual Youth Apprenticeship Week from May 5-11. Built on the success of National Apprenticeship Week, Youth Apprenticeship Week will give employers, unions, educators, state agencies, workforce partners, community-based organizations and other Registered Apprenticeship sponsors the opportunity to showcase their programs and successes in youth apprenticeships. The annual commemoration also offers youth apprentices a platform on which they can share their apprenticeship experiences and educate the public about the benefits of local youth apprenticeship programs.
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US Department of Labor seeks input from South Dakota building, heavy construction industry for wage survey to establish prevailing wage rates

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US Department of Labor seeks input from South Dakota building, heavy construction industry for wage survey to establish prevailing wage rates SIOUX FALLS, SD – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division is surveying the building and heavy construction industry of South Dakota to set prevailing wage rates, as required under the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts, for the payment of construction workers on federally funded and federally assisted construction projects.The DBRA directs the department to set the prevailing wage rates that reflect the actual wages and fringe benefits paid to construction workers in the county where the work takes place. This survey requests information about wages paid to construction workers on building and heavy construction projects in South Dakota where construction occurred between March 25, 2023, and June 25, 2024. This is a statewide survey and is not limited to federally funded construction projects. The data collection period will begin March
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ICYMI: Acting Secretary Su visits diverse communities, spotlights Biden-Harris administration investments in good jobs, support for unions

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ICYMI: Acting Secretary Su visits diverse communities, spotlights Biden-Harris administration investments in good jobs, support for unions WASHINGTON – As part of the most pro-worker, pro-union administration in history, Acting Secretary Su is traveling the country to engage with workers, visiting Oregon and Mississippi over the past two weeks. During the visits, she spoke with a diverse group of workers and community leaders about the Biden-Harris administration’s ongoing commitment to creating opportunities for all workers and building an economy from the middle out and the bottom up.The Biden-Harris administration is empowering workers and fighting to ensure that they receive the highest protections they are guaranteed under federal law. While visiting Mississippi, Acting Secretary Su met immigrant workers at a roundtable in Jackson with the Immigrant Alliance for Justice and Equity, followed by a roundtable with community and labor leaders in Jackson. Acting Secretary Su then trav
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US Labor Department recovers $37K in back wages for 37 workers denied overtime by Charleston construction contractor

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US Labor Department recovers $37K in back wages for 37 workers denied overtime by Charleston construction contractor Employer:      EAS Homes LLC                        9012 Timber St.                        Charleston, SC 29406Investigation findings: U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigators found a Charleston commercial construction contractor misclassified some workers as independent contractors. By doing so, EAS Homes failed to pay the additional half-time rate for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Back wages recovered: The division recovered $37,155 in back wages for 37 workers.                                            Quote: “Misclassification of workers as independent contractors denies them overtime wages and benefits they legally earned and rightly deserve. In addition, it denies them employer contributions toward their social security benefits,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Jamie Benefi
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Massachusetts contractor, repeat violator, again exposes workers to potentially fatal falls, leading to $306K in OSHA penalties

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Massachusetts contractor, repeat violator, again exposes workers to potentially fatal falls, leading to $306K in OSHA penalties BRAINTREE, MA – A Framingham roofing contractor with a history of fall-related safety violations again exposed its employees to potentially fatal falls, this time to falls of up to 20 feet at a residential worksite in Boston’s Hyde Park neighborhood. Brothers Construction Services Inc. – which also operates as Brothers Construction and Roofing and Brothers Roofing – faces $306,229 in penalties following a U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspection.OSHA opened an inspection of Brothers Construction Services Inc. at the Lexington Avenue worksite on Aug. 17, 2023, in response to a complaint that workers on the roof of a residential property were not using fall protection. Inspectors observed multiple OSHA violations involving inadequate fall protection, scaffolds, ladders, training, safety inspections and personal protectiv
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Building futures: US Department of Labor promotes safety to newest generation of construction workers in Southeast’s largest student career event

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Building futures: US Department of Labor promotes safety to newest generation of construction workers in Southeast’s largest student career event ATLANTA – Experts from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration will welcome thousands of students – from Georgia’s middle, high and tech schools – to the 2024 Construction Ready Career Expo in Atlanta. The event highlights the importance of on-the-job safety to the industry’s next generation of workers.Held at the Georgia World Congress Center from Feb. 22-23, the event will focus on careers in construction and related fields with specialties such as safety, highway construction, electrical contracting, energy, drywall, tile, roofing and more. Exhibits will feature machinery and tools, and participants will be on hand to answer questions about career options and skills needed in various industry fields.“Connecting with the thousands of students who walk through the doors and sharing the value of job safet
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Departamento de Trabajo recupera $170,000 tras descubrir que empresa de construcción de Bakersfield negó pago de horas extra a 74 empleados

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Departamento de Trabajo recupera $170,000 tras descubrir que empresa de construcción de Bakersfield negó pago de horas extra a 74 empleados Empleador:    Universal Welding and Construction Inc.                              12558 Snow Road                              Bakersfield, CA 93314                                                                                                      Hallazgos de la investigación: Una investigación de la División de Horas y Salarios del Departamento de Trabajo de EE. UU. descubrió que Universal Welding and Construction Inc. no pagó a 74 trabajadores tarifas de sobretiempo por horas trabajadas más allá de las 40 a la semana, privándoles así de su salario íntegro, en violación de la Ley de Normas Justas de Trabajo.Salarios atrasados recuperados:     $85,004 en horas extraordinarias no pagadas a 74 empleados                                                                           $85,004 en indemnizaciones por daños y perjuicios para 74 empleados   
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Illinois construction contractor faces $264K in proposed fines for again failing to protect employees from deadly fall hazards

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Illinois construction contractor faces $264K in proposed fines for again failing to protect employees from deadly fall hazards NAPERVILLE, IL – An Illinois construction contractor – with a history of ignoring federal safety regulations – has again been found exposing workers to deadly fall hazards on a jobsite in Naperville.  Inspectors with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration observed employees of United Custom Homes LLC of Oswego, Illinois, working without protective equipment at heights up to 20 feet on a residential home under construction on Aug. 23, 2023. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that of 1,056 construction workers who suffered fatal on-the-job injuries in 2022, 423 of them died in falls. “United Custom Homes continues to ignore federal safety regulations and endanger workers’ lives by exposing them to deadly fall hazards,” said OSHA Chicago South Area Director Jim Martineck in Tinley Park, Illinois. “Every employer has a leg
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US Labor Department cites Melbourne crane service provider after investigation finds lack of safety protocols led to 34-year-old employee’s electrocution

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US Labor Department cites Melbourne crane service provider after investigation finds lack of safety protocols led to 34-year-old employee’s electrocution PALM BAY, FL – U.S. Department of Labor safety investigators have found that a Melbourne rental crane service provider could have prevented the electrocution of a 34-year-old crane operator at a Palm Bay work site in August 2023 by ensuring required safety measures were in place and followed. Investigators with the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration instead found that on Aug. 23, 2023, Capt’n Hook’s Crane Service Inc. sent an uncertified crane operator to a residential construction project alone to lift and place metal frame roof trusses at a residential construction project. After positioning the crane on an unpaved driveway and extending the boom to complete the first lift, the operator was electrocuted when the steel wire rope and chain rigging, suspended from the crane boom, contacted two 13,200-volt power
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US Department of Labor recovers $184K in back wages, damages for 56 workers shortchanged by Naples restaurant

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US Department of Labor recovers $184K in back wages, damages for 56 workers shortchanged by Naples restaurant TAMPA, FL – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $184,139 in back wages and liquidated damages for 56 seasonal guest workers and U.S. workers of a Naples restaurant after finding multiple violations of federal nonimmigrant work program regulations and federal minimum wage and overtime regulations. The department’s Wage and Hour Division found Sails Restaurant LLC violated provisions of the H-2B worker visa program by misrepresenting job requirements, including willfully misrepresenting access to high-paid server positions – suggesting unlimited earnings potential when instead no such job existed and promotional positions out of reach for many – and shifting a dining room attendant to another job as a construction laborer. The agency also found the employer:Imposed special experience requirements for H-2B workers to qualify for jobs. Failed to list all qualifications in t
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Roofing contractor pays $117,175 penalty after 15-year-old’s fatal fall at Alabama work site

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Roofing contractor pays $117,175 penalty after 15-year-old’s fatal fall at Alabama work site CULLMAN, AL – Apex Roofing & Restoration LLC paid $117,175 in civil money penalties after the U.S. Department of Labor determined that the Pelham roofing contractor employed a 15-year-old child in violation of federal child labor laws, resulting in the child’s death at a Cullman worksite. On July 1, 2019, a teen reported to the worksite for the first day on the job. While working on the roof of a Cullman Casting Corporation building, the teen worker fell approximately 50 feet to the floor below, suffering fractures of the wrist, skull and ribs, among other severe injuries. The teen was pronounced dead at the scene of the incident.The department’s Wage and Hour Division found Apex Roofing illegally employed the teen in violation of a Fair Labor Standards Act child labor hazardous occupation order that prohibits workers under the age of 18 from engaging in dangerous jobs designated by the ac
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Roofing contractor pays $117,175 penalty after 15-year-old’s fatal fall at Alabama work site

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Roofing contractor pays $117,175 penalty after 15-year-old’s fatal fall at Alabama work site CULLMAN, AL – Apex Roofing & Restoration LLC paid $117,175 in civil money penalties after the U.S. Department of Labor determined that the Pelham roofing contractor employed a 15-year-old child in violation of federal child labor laws, resulting in the child’s death at a Cullman worksite. On July 1, 2019, a teen reported to the worksite for the first day on the job. While working on the roof of a Cullman Casting Corporation building, the teen worker fell approximately 50 feet to the floor below, suffering fractures of the wrist, skull and ribs, among other severe injuries. The teen was pronounced dead at the scene of the incident.The department’s Wage and Hour Division found Apex Roofing illegally employed the teen in violation of a Fair Labor Standards Act child labor hazardous occupation order that prohibits workers under the age of 18 from engaging in dangerous jobs designated by the ac
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US Department of Labor cites Alabama construction employer after heat illness claims life of 33-year-old worker at Huntsville job site

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US Department of Labor cites Alabama construction employer after heat illness claims life of 33-year-old worker at Huntsville job site HUNTSVILLE, AL – During the peak of summer in July 2023, a 33-year-old concrete finisher collapsed at a Huntsville construction site after showing clear signs of heat illness, a tragedy that federal safety investigators found could have been prevented had the employer followed established safety practices for heat hazards.An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration into the July 28, 2023, fatality found workers of SJ&L General Contractor LLC were hand forming concrete curbs when – as the heat index neared 107 degrees and humidity climbed to 85 percent – the worker was seen by coworkers stumbling, talking incoherently and eventually vomiting before becoming unresponsive. Though employees provided first aid and paramedics transported the worker to the hospital, the worker died only two hours after
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Department of Labor investigation recovers $547K in back wages, damages after finding Guam construction contractor again shortchanged workers

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Department of Labor investigation recovers $547K in back wages, damages after finding Guam construction contractor again shortchanged workers BARRIGADA, GUAM – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $547,378 in back wages and liquidated damages for 139 employees of a federal construction contractor in Guam who shortchanged them in violation of federal labor laws.Investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division determined Ian Corporation – operating as Ian Construction – violated multiple federal regulations governing the employment of workers on projects supported by federal funds. The division found the company and owner Jihyung P. Chong violated prevailing wage requirements under the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts and the overtime requirements of the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act and Fair Labor Standards Act by failing to pay for all hours worked.The division recovered a total of $295,420 in back wages and $251,957 in liquidated damages for 139 employees. 
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