OSHA issues final rule to ‘nudge’ employers to prevent workplace injuries, illnesses

New federal requirements take effect August 10, 2016 WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration today issued a final rule to modernize injury data collection to better inform workers, employers, the public and OSHA about workplace hazards. With this new rule, OSHA is applying the insights of behavioral economics to […]

OIG: USPS compound drug related costs increased by millions due to Department of Labor

Background Enacted in 1916, the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act (FECA) provides medical, compensation, death, and vocational rehabilitation benefits to civilian federal employees who sustain injuries or disease. In fiscal years (FYs) 2014 and 2015, FECA provided over $1 billion in annual workers’ compensation benefits to U.S. Postal Service workers. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) […]

DOL wanted injunction against USPS to protect whistleblowers in all postal facilities

In a recent whistleblower lawsuit against USPS, the Department of Labor  (DOL) had requested broad “injunctive relief, nationwide in scope, to vindicate the public interest in promoting safe workplaces and protecting those who dare to advocate for them.”  The DOL proposed injunction included prohibitions: against taking adverse action against any Postal Service employee on account […]

OSHA proposes $287,000 in fines against USPS in Bluefield, W.Va.,for exposing workers to electrical hazards

US Labor Department Press release BLUEFIELD, W.Va. – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited the U.S. Postal Service for workplace safety violations found at a mail processing facility located at 3010 East Cumberland Road in Bluefield. Proposed penalties total $287,000. “These citations and sizable fines reflect the Postal Service’s […]

OSHA Increases Enforcement Against Serious Safety and Health Violators

From October 2009 to September 2010, OSHA issued citations in 164 significant cases where penalties reached $100,000 or more. OSHA found conditions warranting use of its egregious citation policy in 20 of these inspections. In a so-called egregious case, an employer is cited on a per-instance basis under the same standard rather than grouping similar […]

New York Postal Worker Gets Two Months For OWCP Fraud

Press Release from the United States Attorney Northern District of New York September 10, 2010 Richard S. Hartunian, United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York, announced today that JAMES IZYK, 49, of Oswego, New York was sentenced in federal court today in Syracuse, N.Y. by U.S. District Court Judge Norman A. Mordue, […]

Injured Letter Carrier Fired For Failing To Report Income From Rock Band

Illinois Letter Carrier fired for failing to report income earned playing bass guitar for a rock band called BANG! Truhlar sued the Postal Service and NALC Branch. TRUHLAR v. U.S. POSTAL SERVICE KENNETH T. TRUHLAR, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE, et al., Defendants-Appellees. No. 09-1652. United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit. Argued December […]

USPS Refuses To Sever Ties With Contractor Debarred By DOL For Defrauding Its Workers

APWU News USPS Subcontractor Defrauds Drivers of Wages, Benefits Postal Management Refuses to Sever Ties with Company Last month, newspapers reported a settlement [PDF] between the Department of Labor and a USPS subcontractor that exemplifies the problem with postal subcontracting: After three years of defrauding its workers of pay and benefits, the contractor, MT Transportation […]

DOL Will Recover $1.8 Million In Back Wages From USPS Mail Hauling Contractor

The company and its principal officers also will be debarred from receiving future government contracts for a three-year period. BAY SHORE, N.Y. — The U.S. Department of Labor will recover more than $1.8 million in back wages for more than 500 employees of MT Transportation & Logistics Services Inc., a trucking company based in Bay […]