Labor Dept. takes steps for temporary workers’ safety, health
- OSHA and the American Staffing Association established an alliance to improve the workplace safety and health of temporary workers.
- OSHA and ASA signed an Ambassador document on Aug. 9, 2022, to improve safety and health practices and programs in American workplaces.
- The goal of an Ambassador is to continue the longstanding relationships between OSHA and Alliance participants through ongoing outreach and information-sharing, and training.
- OSHA and ASA first signed an alliance in 2014 and it was renewed in 2016. Their collaboration has resulted in several successful initiatives.
Minnesota health care company sued by feds
- The U.S. Department of Labor filed a lawsuit against Amada Senior Care Twin Cities in Minnesota after it allegedly failed to pay overtime to nurse and patient care assistants.
- Gregory Getchell, the owner of Getch, Inc. and operator of Amada, violated federal law by paying a flat daily rate to employees who provided live-in assistance with self-care and daily living activities.
- Getchell failed to pay his employees overtime, and instead altered employee pay records to make it appear as if overtime had been paid, the department of labor says.
- The lawsuit is seeking roughly $75,000 in back wages for the 25 impacted employees.
Michigan woman sentenced for fraud
- Brittany White, age 28, of Lansing, Mich., was sentenced in federal court to a charge of wire fraud, United States Attorney Cindy K. Chung announced.
- White was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of six months followed by a three-year term of supervised release by Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan.
- White had traveled to Pittsburgh in order to retrieve debit cards issued by Pennsylvania as a result of fraudulent applications for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits.
- As part of the scheme, the debit cards had been directed to an address in Etna unconnected to White, who was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $14,835.
Federal judge upholds OSHA fine
- An administrative law judge in Denver affirmed the findings of a federal workplace safety investigation that determined a Louisville acute inpatient psychiatric treatment facility.
- UHS of Centennial Peaks LLC – which operates as Centennial Peaks Hospital exposed direct care employees to aggressive patients who regularly assaulted and seriously injured them.
- OSHA cited UHS for exposing employees to workplace violence hazards and the administrative judge found the agency’s proposed abatement measures were feasible a
- The judge also affirmed OSHA’s $10,229 penalty.