Category: Business

Labor Dept. recovers $13,781 in back wages for Fort Myers grocery store workers after overtime violations found

FORT MYERS, FL – S & O Groceries Inc. – operating as Bravo Supermarket in Fort Myers – has paid $13,781 in back wages to two employees after a U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division (WHD) investigation found overtime violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

The Department also assessed the grocery store a civil penalty of $806 for the repeat nature of the violations.

WHD investigators determined S & O Groceries Inc. paid two store clerks flat salaries, regardless of the number of hours they worked. This practice resulted in violations when those employees worked more than 40 hours in a workweek without the employer paying them overtime.

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USDA extends free school meals for all children

Washington, Oct. 16, 2020 — President Donald Trump proclaimed this week National School Lunch Week 2020, highlighting the vital role of school nutrition professionals in ensuring that children in all communities nationwide continue to get nutritious meals, despite the challenges posed by the current public health emergency.
To keep this work going, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue recently announced the continued extension of nationwide flexibilities that allow free school meals for all children throughout the entire 2020-2021 school year.

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DeSantis announces first emergency bridge loan for small business impacted by Hurricane Sally

Tallahassee, Fla. – Today, Governor Ron DeSantis announced that the first Small Business Emergency Bridge Loan has been approved for a business impacted by Hurricane Sally.

The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) will provide the loan to Brett Hinely, owner of Bluewater Bay Marina in Niceville, Florida.

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State DEO revises July, August unemployment figures

The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity has revised the July and August 2020 local area unemployment statistics released on September 18.

According to information provided by DEO’s Bureau of Workforce Statistics and Economic Research, the revision is “due to an agricultural employment atypical adjustment not being applied to the previously released data.”  There is no change to the statewide labor statistics.

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Region’s economy shows strong signs of recovery in August

OCALA, Fla. (Sept.18, 2020) – The unemployment rate in the CareerSource Citrus Levy Marion region was 6.4 percent in August, 3.2 percentage point lower than in July and 2.1 percentage point higher than the region’s rate a year ago rate.

There were 13,020 unemployed in the region, 6,102 fewer than the previous month but still 4,356 more than August 2019.

The region’s labor force of 202,134, an expansion of 3,702 since July, was fueled by a strong increase in employment over the month – an increase of 9,804 to 189,114 – coupled with the sharp drop in the number of unemployed.

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Local woman seeks 5G moratorium

The controversy over 5G’s implementation has reached Citrus County.

On Tuesday, a woman called “Miss Beatrice” spoke to county commissioners about the health effects of the 5G communications network coming soon to a town near you.

Below is a video of the woman’s presentation, and the responses of the officials.

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