DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Department of LaborIn a complaint filed Wednesday that reads straight out the Great Depression, the feds requested a temporary injunction on a massive sanitation company that’s accused of employing children as young as 13 in “dangerous” overnight shifts at food processing plants.Packers Sanitation Services, known as PSSI, is under investigation by the Department of Labor after a credible tip uncovered that at least 31 children were employed to clean industrial equipment, the complaint said.At le

The restaurant said it instead paid twice the minimum wage, which it said gave staff more reliable earnings and enabled them to qualify for loans.

There are signs that the gap between hiring demand and available workers is stabilizing.

A proposed rule could affect Uber, Lyft and other companies that rely on independent contractors.

Rule would make it harder for companies to skirt minimum wage and overtime laws by classifying workers as contractors.

Employers added 263,000 jobs last month, the Department of Labor announced in its monthly jobs report Friday, ticking down from August, following months of strong job growth that has defined the pandemic recovery economy.

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem is facing a lawsuit after her office refused to release expense records on five out-of-state trips this year to a liberal watchdog group. American Oversight, an organization that files open records requests and litigation against Republican officials, filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Noem, who is in the midst of a reelection campaign and eyeing a bid for the GOP's 2024 presidential ticket. It alleges that the governor's office did not follow the state's open records law by claiming that releasing the records would create a threat to the governor's safety.

Vulnerable House and Senate Democrats are staying quiet after the recent CPI report found that inflation rose to 8.3% in August, despite support for Inflation Reduction Act.

Dollar General was hit with $1.3 million in penalties after visits by federal workplace safety inspectors.

Dow dives more than 600 points as central bankers struggle to contain spiraling food, energy and other prices.

The employment report for April indicates that an important driver of rising prices is moderating.

Fidelity Investments will enable investors to put bitcoin in their 401(k)s, the first retirement-plan provider to offer crypto for retirement savings.

The latest numbers from the Labor Department show Americans are calling into work sick nearly twice as much as they did throughout last year.

The farm also didn't meet housing health and safety standards, provide wage statements to workers, and pay wages on time, the DOL said.

The restaurant and its owner admitted the charges and were ordered to pay staff $344,798 in back wages, tips, and damages, legal filings show.

Most types of occupational deaths dropped amid the pandemic, but unintentional drug overdoses on the job spiked.

The four-week jobless claims average fell by 16,000 to less than 204,000, the lowest level since November 1969 according to the Department of Labor.

The four-week jobless claims average fell by 16,000 to less than 204,000, the lowest level since November 1969 according to the Department of Labor.

The Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and the Department of Labor’s Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (VETS) today signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to enshrine the collaboration between the agencies to protect the employment rights provided to servicemembers by the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA). The new MOU between DOL and Department of Justice is the first between the two agencies since 2004. “They are guaranteed the right to civilian employment free from discrimination based on their military service and prompt reemployment following their military deployments. “This Memorandum of Understanding further cements our long-standing relationship with the Department of Justice to ensure that service members, veterans and employers fully understand their respective rights and obligations under the law. The Department of Justice gives high priority to the enforcement of servicemembers’ rights under USERRA.

South Dakota lawmakers are readying to issue a subpoena on Gov. Kristi Noem’s administration to hand over a document regarding her daughter's attempt to win a state appraisal license.

South Dakota lawmakers are pressing Gov. Kristi Noem’s administration to hand over a document that could prove whether there was a plan in place to give her daughter another chance to win a real estate appraiser license prior to a meeting last year that has spurred conflict-of-interest questions. The Legislature's Government Operations and Audit Committee is readying to initiate a subpoena on Monday if the Department of Labor and Regulation doesn't hand over a signed agreement between the governor’s daughter, Kassidy Peters, and state regulators. Peters won her appraiser certification after a state agency moved to deny it last year.

Jobless claims continue to edge lower, with 267,000 people applying for benefits last week.

The Department of Labor also reports the nation's unemployment rate fell to 4.6%.

Roughly 269,000 Americans sought unemployment benefits last week, a sign the job market continues to heal.

South Dakota lawmakers will be taking a look at a state agency that has been at the center of questions about whether Gov. Kristi Noem used her influence to aid her daughter's application for a real estate appraiser license. At first glance, the first item of business for the Legislature's Government Operations and Audit Committee on Thursday appears routine: “Department of Labor and Regulation to discuss the Appraiser Certification Program.” Peters received her certification four months later.

Americans are still quitting their jobs en masse.

Number of Americans applying for unemployment aid remains about 60% higher than before the pandemic.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced it will push to protect workers against rising temperatures, including a federal rule to safeguard workers from heat-related illnesses.

"Have at it," President Biden said of legal challenges.

"Have at it," President Biden said of legal challenges.

Where did this three-day-weekend come from anyway?

Yet while layoffs are easing, economists say the latest COVID-19 surge is weighing on job growth.

Consumer prices increased 5.4% in the year ending July, according to a report released on Wednesday by the Department of Labor.

Employers topped forecasts by adding 943,000 jobs last month as the economic recovery went into overdrive.

Feds claim facility in Gainesville, Georgia, failed to implement safety procedures needed to prevent nitrogen leak.

PepsiCo and Conagra Brands both said on Tuesday that the plan is to pass along higher input costs to customers as inflation accelerates.

While the number of Americans filing for unemployment aid last week ticked up to 373,000, the job market remains solid.

A Washington lawmaker apologized for wearing a yellow Star of David, a symbol that the Nazis forced upon Jews as an identification marker during the Holocaust, while giving a speech in which he railed against vaccine mandates.

Labor Department watchdog finds that California and other state unemployment systems were unequipped for COVID-related jobless claims.

The head of a Miami demolition company disputed a Friday U.S. Department of Labor news release that claimed the company missed three payrolls and owed $533,778 in back wages after an investigation.

Many jobless Americans were supposed to get free health insurance from their former employer beginning April 1. They're running into problems instead.

The unemployment rate has also been falling, dropping to 6.3% in January. Signs of improvement in the labor market may create the appearance that the economy is gaining strength amid increasing vaccinations for Covid-19. Experts warn, however, that focusing on only one metric — like the headline unemployment rate — won't tell the whole story. "It doesn't tell you what the pain is in the labor market completely," said Rebecca Dixon, executive director of the National Employment Law Project. For example, in the May 2020 jobs report, the unemployment rate without this type of error would have been closer to 16.3%, a big difference from the 13.3% rate reported.

President Joe Biden is calling on the Department of Labor to make this clear: Workers are entitled to refuse employment that jeopardizes their health, without sacrificing unemployment benefits. "It's a huge issue" impacting hundreds of thousands of workers, Stettner said. "The issue that this executive order is trained on is the upwards of 40 million people who went onto unemployment benefits after the pandemic," Stettner said. "Then people started being called back to work, or offered jobs, so there was no guidance on this question. Biden's order comes a day after another order directing the Labor Department to revise worker health and safety guidance within two weeks.

President-elect Joe Biden will issue a memo on his first day in office to "halt or delay" last-minute actions by the Trump administration, Biden's transition team announced Thursday. The Biden administration will quickly address changes made during this period, as other administrations have done, Psaki said. The freeze will apply to both regulations and also guidance documents, which agencies issue to explain or clarify rules and policies. Independent contractors give up most benefits that employees get, such as overtime or minimum-wage protections, paid sick time, family leave and the right to start or join a union. If it takes effect, the rule will make it easier to misclassify employees as independent contractors, costing workers nearly $3.7 billion annually," she said.

President-elect Joe Biden will issue a memo on his first day in office to "halt or delay" last-minute actions by the Trump administration, Biden's transition team announced Thursday. The Biden administration will quickly address changes made during this period, as other administrations have done, Psaki said. The freeze will apply to both regulations and also guidance documents, which agencies issue to explain or clarify rules and policies. Independent contractors give up most benefits that employees get, such as overtime or minimum-wage protections, paid sick time, family leave and the right to start or join a union. If it takes effect, the rule will make it easier to misclassify employees as independent contractors, costing workers nearly $3.7 billion annually," she said.

The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program, which covers gig workers and self-employed workers; and the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) program, which provides additional weeks of jobless aid to those who have run out of their regular state unemployment benefits, both expired December 26. Because the bill was signed a day after those two unemployment programs ended, concerns have been raised that jobless workers may suffer from a gap in aid payments. But since August, he's been living on just $275 a week in state unemployment benefits, "which is kind of not survivable," he told MoneyWatch recently. Unemployment programs are run independently by each state, and jobless workers apply for aid through their state labor departments. This likely means lawmakers may be debating more jobless aid in 2021.

The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program, which covers gig workers and self-employed workers; and the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) program, which provides additional weeks of jobless aid to those who have run out of their regular state unemployment benefits, both expired December 26. Because the bill was signed a day after those two unemployment programs ended, concerns have been raised that jobless workers may suffer from a gap in aid payments. But since August, he's been living on just $275 a week in state unemployment benefits, "which is kind of not survivable," he told MoneyWatch recently. Unemployment programs are run independently by each state, and jobless workers apply for aid through their state labor departments. For instance, 8 of 10 jobless workers in Wyoming receive their jobless benefits within 14 days of being deemed eligible for the benefits, according to the Century Foundation.

The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program, which covers gig workers and self-employed workers; and the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) program, which provides additional weeks of jobless aid to those who have run out of their regular state unemployment benefits, both expired December 26. Because the bill was signed a day after those two unemployment programs ended, concerns have been raised that jobless workers may suffer from a gap in aid payments. But since August, he's been living on just $275 a week in state unemployment benefits, "which is kind of not survivable," he told MoneyWatch recently. Unemployment programs are run independently by each state, and jobless workers apply for aid through their state labor departments. For instance, 8 of 10 jobless workers in Wyoming receive their jobless benefits within 14 days of being deemed eligible for the benefits, according to the Century Foundation.

The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program, which covers gig workers and self-employed workers; and the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) program, which provides additional weeks of jobless aid to those who have run out of their regular state unemployment benefits, both expired December 26. Because the bill was signed a day after those two unemployment programs ended, concerns have been raised that jobless workers may suffer from a gap in aid payments. But since August, he's been living on just $275 a week in state unemployment benefits, "which is kind of not survivable," he told MoneyWatch recently. Unemployment programs are run independently by each state, and jobless workers apply for aid through their state labor departments. For instance, 8 of 10 jobless workers in Wyoming receive their jobless benefits within 14 days of being deemed eligible for the benefits, according to the Century Foundation.

Jobless claims rise again, with 885,000 filing last week Unemployment is on the rise as coronavirus cases surge nationwide. According to the latest figures released by the Department of Labor, 885,000 Americans filed for first-time unemployment the second week in December. Frances Stacy, director of portfolio strategy at Optimal Capital, joined CBSN to discuss what these latest numbers mean for the U.S. economy.

At the same time, states also are underpaying those workers displaced because of the business restrictions associated with the pandemic. The GAO also took issue with the way the Labor Department has been reporting weekly claims, which have run above the pre-pandemic record every week since mid-March. A primary issue in the weekly reporting has been with case backlogs, resulting in counts that are too low. At the same time, the department is sometimes counting people repeatedly who file multiple claims, resulting in some counts that are too high. "DOL has continued to collect and report claims data in the ways it has historically, which provides some valuable information about the volume of claims submitted," the report stated.

NEW YORK – Three civil rights groups filed a lawsuit Thursday challenging President Donald Trump's executive order that prohibits federal agencies, contractors and grant recipients from offering certain diversity training that the president deems “anti-American." The lawsuit argued that Trump's order violates free speech rights and strangles workplace attempts to address systemic race and sex discrimination. The National Urban League and the National Fair Housing Alliance both have federal contracts and plan to apply for future ones. Critics say Trump's order twists President Lyndon B. Johnson’s 1965 initiative into vehicle for white grievances. The lawsuit, however, said the wording of the order is overly broad and is already having a chilling effect on diversity training.

WASHINGTON – The Trump administration announced plans Tuesday to sharply limit visas for skilled workers from overseas, a move officials said was a priority amid job losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic. President Donald Trump in June issued an order temporarily suspending the H-1B program until the end of the year. The H-1B program was created under President George H.W. There would also be increased workplace inspections and additional oversight of the H-1B program, Cuccinelli said. The U.S. can issue up to 85,000 H-1B visas per year in technology, life sciences, health care and other sectors.

More than 130,000 restaurant and hotel workers across Georgia lost jobs in March, the state Department of Labor said. “It’s just shut down everything, turned off the whole city,” Primo said. Georgia processed 318,000 new unemployment claims last week, the Department of Labor reported Thursday. While that’s down slightly from the record-smashing previous week, more than 900,000 Georgia workers have filed for unemployment benefits since March 22. Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler predicted unemployment claims will soon exceed 1 million.