labor lawAdivision of labor law center

Employers in several states, including Mississippi, Colorado and Arizona, are required by law to use E-Verify to check every new employee’s documentation.

In Texas, Hawaii, Michigan and eleven other states, employers are strongly urged to use E-Verify.

Tax incentives are offered in some states, like Georgia, to employers that utilize E-Verify. Government employees, state contractors and sub-contractors are already required to use E-Verify by most states.

Many states are (more…)

The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit on September 25, 2008 against Houston-based CEMEX Inc. for overtime violations. The suit maintains that the company failed to pay $5 million in overtime to more than 2,000 drivers from eight states. The employees were drivers of ready-mix concrete trucks.

CEMEX, founded in Mexico in 1906, provides cement and other building supplies for the construction industry. The company’s website claims it employers more than 60,000 employees in 50 countries on 5 continents.

Affected employees of CEMEX worked in Texas, (more…)

On September 24, the U.S. Department of Labor announced a grant of more than $15 million to Texas in the wake of Hurricane Ike. Of the total grant, $7.9 million will be released initially. The balance will be released as the state demonstrates a continued need for disaster assistance.

“This $15.9 million National Emergency Grant  will put several hundred Texans to work helping communities recover from Hurricane Ike damage,” said Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. “This grant will also fund humanitarian assistance such as food, clothing, shelter and other critical aid that Texans affected by the hurricane devastation are in need of.”

The grant, totaling $15,883,200 will be used to (more…)

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration or EBSA is giving some employers a reprieve from filing annual reports and returns following Hurricanes Gustav and Ike.

On September 22, 2008 the Employee Benefits Security Administration announced that employers in 29 Texas counties and 14 Louisiana parishes have until January 5 to file documents that are normally due between September 7, 2008 and January 4, 1009. These include Form 5500 and Form 5500 EZ annual reports and returns.

The extension applies to (more…)

With 2 major hurricanes affecting the Gulf Coast in just 11 days, the US Department of Labor personnel is stretched thin, but responding to demands for assistance, thanks to volunteers from Alabama, Montana, New Mexico, Ohio, South Dakota and Utah.

Initially volunteers from Texas traveled to Louisiana to assist survivors of Hurricane Gustav.  

However, as Hurricane Ike pummeled the Texas coast just days later, most of them returned to their home state to aid in recovery efforts there.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA) and state and local workforce organizations have (more…)