According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), every year thousands of workers become sick from occupational heat exposure. Some cases are even fatal. But heat-related injuries are preventable, OSHA officials point out, and one construction firm aims to do so via the use of wearable technologies. The need for […]

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division recovered $5,081 in back wages and $5,081 in liquidated damages for nine employees at Window World of Southwest Virginia Inc. in Wythevillle, Va. The government determined that the employer, which installs doors, windows, siding for homeowners throughout southwest Virginia, did not pay window installers the proper […]

The Asunción Valdivia Heat Illness and Fatality Prevention Act is working its way through the legislative process. Introduced by Rep. Judy Chu of California in late March 2021, the bill requires the U.S. Department of Labor to instate an enforceable federal safety standard with respect to exposure to excessive heat. “Excessive heat,” according to the […]

Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Labor announced an award of more than $121 million in Apprenticeship Building America grants to strengthen and modernize Registered Apprenticeship programs, enabling workers to find reliable pathways to the middle class. The department awarded more than $58 million of the total funding to grantees focusing on equity partnerships […]

A 45-year-old worker at Sunbelt Forest Products died after a forklift struck her as she walked across the Athens, Ala., lumber shipping yard on Nov. 15, 2021. The subsequent U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) investigation has resulted in a citation levied against the company, which is now facing the possibility of fines […]

Joint resolution (S.533), a bill to end subminimum wage in South Carolina, recently went to the floor of the House of Representatives following a favorable report with amendment from the Labor, Commerce, and Industry Committee. South Carolina could become the third state in the Southeast, following North Carolina and Tennessee, and the fourteenth state in […]

Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Labor announced that its Wage and Hour Division will hire 100 investigators to its team as it strengthens support of enforcement efforts, including the protection of workers’ wages, migrant and seasonal workers, rights to family and medical leave and prevailing wage requirements for workers on federal contracts. The […]

The Home Builders Institute (HBI) recently announced that its curriculum for construction trade skills has been approved as an industry recognized certification by the State of Ohio. As a result, the state’s secondary schools can apply for a special grant program to support residential construction trade skills programs for the first time. The grants are […]

According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s website, the penalties an employer could face in the wake of serious workplace violation have increased. Accounting for inflation, infractions that fall under the designation “Serious Other-Than-Serious Posting Requirements” will run up to (but no more than) $13,653 per violation, and failing to […]

The U.S. Department of Labor announced two opinion letters that address compliance issues related to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The documents, written by the Department’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), address how a particular law applies in specific circumstances. · FLSA2020-19: Addresses whether certain travel time occurring on a partial telework day is […]