Labor Department News Releases Update

The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a $1,576,221 National Emergency Grant to assist approximately 250 workers affected by layoffs at five companies in Hampden County. 

A series of severe storms has been raging through parts of the Midwest, South and Eastern United States since Sunday. The violent weather stretched from Iowa and Oklahoma to states across the south, including deadly tornadoes in Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee. Due to ongoing heavy rain, flash flood watches have been issued from Northern Florida up to New England. As residents recover from these events, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration urges recovery workers, employers and the public to be aware of the hazards they can encounter and take necessary steps to stay safe.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced that federal inspectors issued 152 citations, 14 orders and one safeguard during special impact inspections conducted at 10 coal mines and three metal and nonmetal mines in March.

U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez released the following statement after the Senate's vote on the Harkin-Reid-Merkley legislation that would have raised the federal minimum wage to $10.10 per hour:

The U.S. Department of Labor is seeking to obtain a judgment against strawberry grower Fernandez Farms Inc., based in Watsonville, Calif., and its president, Gonzalo Fernandez, requiring payment of nearly $1 million in back wages to approximately 400 farm workers for minimum wage and overtime violations. Additionally, the department seeks more than $1 million in penalties for those wage violations and for egregious violations of the H-2A temporary non-immigrant worker program, which include a failure to hire qualified U.S. workers and allegedly requiring workers to pay a substantial sum of their earnings to cover costs of the program.

The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the 2014 official theme of National Disability Employment Awareness Month: "Expect. Employ. Empower." Observed in October, NDEAM is a nationwide campaign that raises awareness about disability employment issues and honors the many diverse contributions of America's workers with disabilities.