Posts

Court enters consent order requiring New Hampshire landscaper to pay employees $310K in wages, liquidated damages

-
Court enters consent order requiring New Hampshire landscaper to pay employees $310K in wages, liquidated damages MANCHESTER, NH – The U.S. Department of Labor, following an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division and the filing of a consent order in federal court by the department’s Office of the Solicitor, has recovered a total of $310,193 in back wages and liquidated damages from a Bedford landscaper and contractor who underpaid 60 employees. The division found that Ulster Property Services LLC and owner Kieran Rice violated the overtime, minimum wage, child labor and recordkeeping requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act by doing the following:Paying 59 workers, whose duties included landscaping, snow removal and construction work, straight time wages for all hours worked, instead of paying them the required overtime rate for hours over 40 in a workweek.Failing to pay one employee for all hours worked, resulting in the employee receiving less than the required
Post a Comment
Read more

US Department of Labor awards more than $57M in grants to help homeless, at-risk veterans re-enter workforce

-
US Department of Labor awards more than $57M in grants to help homeless, at-risk veterans re-enter workforce WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of more than $57 million in grants to support programs that help veterans experiencing or at risk of homelessness overcome barriers to the workforce and find meaningful employment.Administered by the Veterans’ Employment and Training Service, the Homeless Veterans’ Reintegration Program awarded more than $15 million to fund 34 new three-year grants, and $42 million to 123 organizations now in their second or third years in the program. These organizations provide participating veterans with occupational skills, connect them with Registered Apprenticeships or other on-the-job training, and deliver job search and placement services.“Homeless veterans face a complex set of problems and require multiple approaches to deliver needed services,” explained Assistant Secretary for Veterans’ Employment and Training James
Post a Comment
Read more

Department of Labor cites Arcadia labor contractor after farmworker suffers fatal illness while harvesting oranges with heat index over 90

-
Department of Labor cites Arcadia labor contractor after farmworker suffers fatal illness while harvesting oranges with heat index over 90 ARCADIA, FL – A federal workplace safety investigation found a Florida labor contractor could have prevented the fatal illness of a 41-year-old worker who collapsed while harvesting oranges at Alico Farms in December 2023 by taking required steps to protect employees from hazards associated with high temperatures. Inspectors with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration learned the worker employed by Guerero Ag LLC had difficulty talking and appeared disoriented before becoming unresponsive and collapsing — symptoms consistent with a person suffering from heat stroke. Sadly, the worker died three days later in intensive care. OSHA determined the heat index reached approximately 92 degrees the day of the incident.OSHA cited Guerrero Ag for two serious violations for exposing workers to hazards associated with high
Post a Comment
Read more

US Department of Labor cites contractor for lacking required fall protection that contributed to 54-year-old employee’s fatal fall

-
US Department of Labor cites contractor for lacking required fall protection that contributed to 54-year-old employee’s fatal fall ATLANTA – A five-man crew’s first day working to remove tar and stone from metal roof panels at a Macon warehouse ended abruptly in November 2023 when a 54-year-old laborer tragically suffered fatal injuries after stepping on a skylight and falling about 19 feet.A U.S. Department of Labor investigation found Georgia construction contractor could have prevented by providing their employees with required fall protection.Investigators with the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration determined the employee of NOR-D LLC in Johns Creek stepped on the skylight after dumping debris off the warehouse’s roof. An ambulance rushed the worker, who suffered severe injuries, to a nearby hospital where they succumbed to their injuries hours later. In addition, NOR-D LLC failed to notify OSHA of the incident within the required 8 hours.OSHA’s inspection
Post a Comment
Read more

Worker’s fatal fall in Chenango County preventable if Tennessee-based contractor had provided employees fall protection equipment, training

-
Worker’s fatal fall in Chenango County preventable if Tennessee-based contractor had provided employees fall protection equipment, training SYRACUSE, NY – A construction contractor could have prevented an employee’s fatal fall at a Smyrna, New York job site in December 2023 by providing adequate fall protection and training employees in its effective use, a U.S. Department of Labor investigation found.Inspectors with the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration found A.W. Stiles Contractors Inc. of McMinnville, Tennessee, failed to provide the worker who was fatally injured and three other employees with effective fall protection, exposing them to falls of 23 feet as they replaced an aluminum standing seam roof on a building at Baillie Lumber Co. OSHA also determined the company neglected to ensure its employees were trained on fall hazards, in the use of personal fall arrest systems and on the correct procedures for installing, maintaining and inspecting the fall pr
Post a Comment
Read more

Juez federal ordena a contratista de construcción pagar $288K a 43 trabajadores de México y $63K en multas por violaciones al programa H-2A

-
Juez federal ordena a contratista de construcción pagar $288K a 43 trabajadores de México y $63K en multas por violaciones al programa H-2A SAN JACINTO, CA – Un juez federal reafirmó la conclusión del Departamento de Trabajo de EE.UU. de que una empresa constructora de Nebraska que operaba en el sur de California discriminó descarada y deliberadamente a trabajadores estadounidenses al traer a EE.UU. trabajadores mexicanos con falsos pretextos, a los que pagó de menos y puso su seguridad y salud en riesgo en condiciones de alojamiento deficientes.  La Oficina de Jueces de Derecho Administrativo del departamento ordenó a Randy y Kary Christo, propietarios y operadores de R&R Christo Construction LLC de Fremont, pagar $288,719 en salarios a 43 trabajadores agrícolas y $63,813 en multas después de que la División de Horas y Salarios  del departamento confirmara que en su solicitud al programa de visa agrícola H-2A presentaron ordenes de trabajo que tergiversaban deliberadamente los té
Post a Comment
Read more

Federal judge orders construction contractor to pay $288K to 43 workers from Mexico and $63K in penalties for H-2A program violations

-
Federal judge orders construction contractor to pay $288K to 43 workers from Mexico and $63K in penalties for H-2A program violations SAN JACINTO, CA – A federal judge has reaffirmed the U.S. Department of Labor’s finding that a Nebraska construction company operating in Southern California blatantly and willfully discriminated against U.S. workers by bringing Mexican workers to the U.S. under false pretenses, shortchanging their wages and putting their safety and health at risk in substandard living conditions. The department’s Office of Administrative Law Judges ordered Randy and Kary Christo — owners and operators of R&R Christo Construction LLC of Fremont — to pay $288,719 in wages to 43 agricultural workers and $63,813 in penalties after the department’s Wage and Hour Division confirmed they submitted a job order in their H-2A agricultural visa program application deliberately misrepresenting that the foreign workers would do agricultural work when, in fact, they were employe
Post a Comment
Read more

Illinois contractor exposes employees to deadly fall hazards twice in 2 months at homes under construction in Hanover Park subdivision

-
Illinois contractor exposes employees to deadly fall hazards twice in 2 months at homes under construction in Hanover Park subdivision HANOVER PARK, IL – Federal workplace safety inspectors found an Illinois construction contractor — cited seven times since 2020 — again exposing employees doing framing work to the risk of deadly falls from elevation at two homes under construction in Hanover Park in December 2023 and February 2024. Inspectors with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration observed employees of Maestro Construction Inc. working at heights up to 20 feet without adequate fall protection. Inspectors reported that some workers put on fall protection safety gear but wore it incorrectly, making it useless. The agency also learned the Bolingbrook company failed to certify that employees had been trained in fall hazards or the required use of personal protective equipment. In addition, inspectors found damaged electrical cords in use. “Contra
Post a Comment
Read more