Tag Archive for: workers

Normalcy returns to OAUTH as police disperse protesting sacked workers


Normal activities have returned to the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital (OAUTH) with workers and patients having free entry and exit.

This followed police disruption of the indefinite protest embarked on by the sacked workers of the hospital.

Recall that the sacked workers, numbering over 1500, shut the gates of the hospital last Thursday in protest against their disengagement. They had vowed that the protest would continue indefinitely unless the institution’s management reverses their sack.

But as the protest entered Day 5 on Monday, PREMIUM TIMES gathered that men of the Nigeria Police Force invaded the protest arena, shooting into the air and throwing tear gas canisters to disperse the protesters.

The security personnel later forced the shut gates open and stationed their patrol vehicles nearby to prevent further protest.

Meanwhile, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi has intervened in the lingering industrial crisis.

A statement by the palace media office on Tuesday, stated that during a meeting with leaders of the sacked workers on Monday, the monarch donated a sum of N10 million and one thousand bags of rice to pacify them.

The statement added that the monarch’s gesture was to ameliorate their suffering, which was occasioned by the non-payment of their salaries for 14 months.

Ooni Ogunwusi assured the aggrieved workers that he was working with relevant stakeholders, including the Federal Ministry of Health, among others, to resolve the crisis.

“I am dedicating myself and the ancient throne of Oduduwa to fight this fight to a logical conclusion,” he said.

The monarch noted that the workers had the right to protest if they feel injustice has been meted out to them, but he urged them to apply wisdom in order to achieve desired results.

ALSO READ: Sacked OAUTH employees shut down hospital in protest

“I am happy that you all have demonstrated core Omoluabi ethos of descendants of Oduduwa by allowing operations to resume at the hospital upon receiving my message. You have honoured me and I pray that God will honour you all.

“Beyond that, I wish to assure you that the Palace will support your dreams and aspirations in life even beyond…

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Security awareness training among govt workers needed • BusinessMirror Editorial


Hacking incidents have affected many big companies and government agencies in recent years, including a 2018 Facebook data breach that enabled attackers to access millions of user data. That year, it was discovered that political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica had obtained access to the personal information of millions of Facebook users without their consent. This was made possible by access control vulnerability in the social media’s application programming interface (API) that allowed third-party developers to access user data.

The scandal brought to light the issue of data privacy and the need for stricter access control measures. Facebook faced widespread criticism for mishandling users’ personal information and was fined $5 billion by the US Federal Trade Commission for violating users’ privacy.

No one knows the number of hackers around the world since many of those with malicious intentions are unidentified. However, some hackers join the ethical hacking community. Based on the 2018 Hacker Report, there are more than 166,000 registered ethical hackers worldwide.

India and the United States were the top countries where hackers were located, with 43 percent combined representatives. Russia, Pakistan, and the United Kingdom follow, with 14 percent combined representatives, according to the HackerOne hacker community.

CrowdStrike, the company that discovered that the Russians had hacked the Democratic National Committee, said that Russian hackers are known to be the fastest hackers. They can access a computer network in just 18 minutes, while Korean hackers gain access in two and a half hours, and Chinese hackers need four hours.

In the Philippines, a recent hacking incident stole personally identifiable information (PII) of Philippine Health Insurance Corp. members and its employees. PhilHealth was hacked by the Medusa group, and the hackers were demanding a $300-million ransom in exchange for the deletion of the stolen PhilHealth files posted on the dark web. PhilHealth President and CEO Emmanuel Ledesma Jr. said the insurer will not pay the ransom, but it had to spend P172 million to buttress its cyber defense.

This is the “unfortunate…

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US Department of Labor obtains judgment to recover $47K in back wages, damages after Louisiana security company denied overtime to 58 workers


Sentinel Security Group Inc. assessed $7K in civil money penalties

SHREVEPORT, LA – While security workers sometimes face daunting challenges on the job in return for a median national wage of just $15.13 per hour, 58 industry workers are closer to getting wages owed to them by their Shreveport employer thanks to an action brought by the U.S. Department of Labor.

In May 2023, the department obtained a consent judgment in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, Shreveport Division, ordering Sentinel Security Group Inc. to pay $23,841 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages to the affected employees.

The court’s action follows a 2021 lawsuit the department filed after the company refused to comply with the findings of the department’s Wage and Hour Division. Investigators determined Sentinel Security Group denied overtime to the affected employees by not combining hours employees worked at more than one location, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime provision.

Sentinel Security Group deprived 58 workers of their overtime pay by ignoring their responsibilities under federal law,” said Wage and Hour Division Regional Administrator Betty Campbell in Dallas. “The recovery of back wages and damages will help these employees support themselves and their families.”

The department also filed a separate action in administrative court and obtained consent findings that require the company to pay $7,317 in civil money penalties for Sentinel’s repeat violations.

“Compliance with the law is not optional. Employers cannot repeatedly disregard the law, and the U.S. Department of Labor will take legal action when employers like Sentinel Security Group refuse to pay employees their rightful wages,” explained Regional Solicitor of Labor John Rainwater in Dallas. “This case’s resolution shows employers that there can be costly consequences for defying the laws.”

In fiscal year 2022, the Wage and Hour Division recovered more than $3.9 million for more than 4,600 people employed in guard services after over 600 investigations nationwide.

For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the…

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Investigation recovers $45K in back wages from fruit company that denied dozens of agricultural workers full wages, transportation and housing


Employer name:       Mt. Clifton Fruit Company LLC

Investigation site:     17581 Mechanicsville Road, Timberville, VA 22853

Investigative Findings: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found the employer violated multiple requirements of the H-2A agricultural worker program by failing to do the following:

Back wages recovered:        $45,384

Civil money penalties:          $8,998

Workers affected:                  55, which includes 50 H-2A program workers and five other workers

Quote: “Our investigation found the Mt. Clifton Fruit Company denied dozens of agricultural workers, many of whom traveled to the U.S. at the company’s request, safe housing and transportation, and their legally earned wages,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Roberto Melendez in Richmond, Virginia. “In addition to recovering back wages, we assessed penalties for these deliberate violations.”

BackgroundMt. Clifton Fruit Company LLC is an agricultural fixed-site employer who specializes in growing and harvesting a variety of apples which are sold retail, direct to consumers and to processors in the U.S.

Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division. The department can speak with callers confidentially in more than 200 languages through the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Download the agency’s new Timesheet App for i-OS and Android devices – also available in Spanish – to ensure hours and pay are accurate.

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