The House of Representatives and now the Senate have both approved The Consolidated Appropriations Act. This nearly $447 billion allocation of funds will provide agencies including theDepartment of Labor (DOL) with a substantial increase in funds for fiscal year 2010. $13.3 billion in discretionary funding will be allocated to the DOL, $1.6 billion of that to worker safety and health initiatives. This amount is $121 million more than the total given to DOL worker protection agencies in 2009.
The DOL will now have increased financial resources to improve enforcement efforts. To this effect, it will hire more than approximately 600 new full-time enforcement and compliance employees at the Employment Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), Employment Standards Administration (ESA), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA).
Our firm has represented injured Longshoremen for over 40 years and has extensive experience dealing with the Department of Labor. If you have a question concerning your rights, please contact us at info@smslegal.com.
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