Pennsylvania stucco contractor cited by OSHA for again exposing employees to scaffolding dangers at Bear, Delaware, work site

News Brief

Pennsylvania stucco contractor cited by OSHA for again exposing employees to scaffolding dangers at Bear, Delaware, work site

BC Stucco and Stone fined $93K after second inspection this May

Employer name: BC Stucco and Stone, 36 Marian Court, Upper Darby, Pennsylvania

BC Stucco and Stone was hired to provide labor for a store remodeling job. Schorn Construction Co. Inc. was the general contractor.

Inspection site: Route 40 and Salem Church Road, Bear, Delaware

Citations issued: On May 20, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations to BC Stucco for one serious and three willful violations.

Inspection findings:  On Nov. 25, 2015, an OSHA compliance officer observed BC Stucco employees working approximately 18 feet above ground on a scaffold with major safety deficiencies, such as lack of fall protection, planking, safe access and proper use of guardrails, prompting an investigation.

The agency found willful violations when BC Stucco and Stone:

  • Allowed workers on scaffolds approximately 18-feet high that were not fully planked or decked.
  • Used a scaffold without a safe means of access and exit.
  • Used a scaffold with unguarded edges and without guardrails, creating fall hazards up to approximately
    18 feet.
  • Failed to provide scaffolding related safety training by a competent person to each employee working from scaffolding. 

The serious citation was due to the company not providing and requiring employees to wear head protection while conducting stucco operations on a fabricated frame scaffold. 

OSHA previously cited BC Stucco and Stone on May 2, 2016, for violations at a Philadelphia work site.

Quote: “BC Stucco and Stone continues to make production the priority over ensuring a safe workplace for its employees, which is intolerable. This contractor is well aware of OSHA standards for safe scaffolding, but consistently disregards them and allows its workers to use scaffolding in such poor condition that even a small human error could lead to dreadful outcomes,” said Erin Patterson, director of OSHA’s Wilmington Area Office.

Proposed penalties: $93,000

The citations can be viewed at: http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/BCStuccoandStone_1108487.pdf

The employer has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to comply, request a conference with OSHA’s area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

To ask questions; obtain compliance assistance; file a complaint; or report amputations, eye loss, workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA’s toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency’s Wilmington Area Office at 302-573-6518.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to ensure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

Agency
Occupational Safety & Health Administration
Date
June 2, 2016
Release Number
16-1111-PHI
Media Contact: Leni Fortson
Media Contact: Joanna Hawkins

US Department of Labor signs agreement to protect workers from misclassification with South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation

News Brief

US Department of Labor signs agreement to protect workers from misclassification with South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation

Participants: U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division
South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation

Partnership description: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division and the South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation signed a three-year Memorandum of Understanding intended to protect employees’ rights by preventing their misclassification as independent contractors or other non-employee statuses. The two agencies will provide clear, accurate, and easy-to-access outreach to employers, employees, and other stakeholders, share resources, and enhance enforcement by conducting joint investigations and sharing information consistent with applicable law.

Background: The division is working with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service and 29 other states to combat employee misclassification and to ensure that workers get the wages, benefits, and protections to which they are entitled. Labeling employees as something they are not – such as independent contractors – can deny them of basic rights such as minimum wage, overtime and a host of other benefits. Misclassification also generates substantial losses to the federal government and state governments in the form of lower tax revenues, as well as to state unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation funds.

More information on misclassification and the effort are available at http://www.dol.gov/misclassification/.

Quotes: “The Wage and Hour Division continues to attack this problem head-on through a combination of a robust education and outreach campaign, and nationwide, data-driven strategic enforcement across industries,” said David Weil, administrator of the Wage and Hour Division. “Our goal is always to strive toward workplaces with decreased misclassification, increased compliance, and more workers receiving a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work.”

David Weil, U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division Administrator

“South Dakota is committed to both protecting workers’ rights and providing a fair business environment for our state’s employers,” said South Dakota Labor and Regulation Secretary Marcia Hultman. “Our partnership with the Wage and Hour Division will increase proper classification of workers.”

Marcia Hultman, Secretary of Labor and Regulation, South Dakota

Agency
Wage and Hour Division
Date
June 1, 2016
Release Number
16-1055-NAT
Media Contact: Joe Versen
Phone Number

Subcontractor pays $33K in back wages after federal investigation finds employer incorrectly classified, underpaid plumbers

News Release

Subcontractor pays $33K in back wages after federal investigation finds employer incorrectly classified, underpaid plumbers

Pete’s Plumbing paid plumbers on federal Choctaw Lodge project laborer’s wages

BATON ROUGE, La. – A Louisiana subcontractor was paying laborer’s wages to Karl Fusilier, a plumber working on the $8 million, federally funded Choctaw Lodge project in Baton Rouge. While the law requires his employer to pay him and co-workers as plumbers for skilled plumbing work, U.S. Department of Labor investigators say the subcontractor misclassified the three as “laborers,” cheating them of nearly $11 per hour.

An investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division investigation found Pete’s Plumbing of Livingston Parish LLC in violation of Davis Bacon and Related Acts which requires employers to pay prevailing wages on federally funded projects. Ninety-two individual units in seven, two-story buildings, Choctaw Lodge is a project of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Our Plan B. Inc. is the project’s prime contractor.

Initiated by the division’s New Orleans District Office, investigators determined the Denham Springs plumbing company illegally classified the three workers as laborers while their work included using plumbing tools, and installing and extracting all plumbing piping, valves and fittings underground and behind walls. As laborers, they earned between $18 and $25.54 per hour, well below the prevailing wage rate of $36.27 per hour owed to plumbers, including required fringe benefits.

Following the investigation, Pete’s Plumbing agreed to pay $33,951 in back wages to Fusilier and his co-workers.

“Companies awarded federal contracts must comply with all applicable laws,” said Betty Campbell, regional administrator for the Wage and Hour Division in the Southwest. “When a company, especially the prime contractor, enters into a contract with a federal agency, they agree to pay all workers the prevailing wages for that area. The agreement includes the workers for all subcontractors. Classifying an employee incorrectly as a ‘laborer’ who performs the work of a skilled tradesperson using the tools of the trade cheats the worker, their family and the company’s competitors.”

Fusilier said the back wages he received came at just the right time for him. “This is a blessing!” he said. With the money, Fusilier plans to fix his house’s roof, replace worn tires on his truck, put some money in the bank, and, take a well-deserved vacation and go fishing at the camp. 

The Fair Labor Standards Act requires that covered, nonexempt employees be paid at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour for all hours worked, plus time and one-half their regular rates, including commissions, bonuses and incentive pay, for hours worked beyond 40 per week. Employers also are required to maintain accurate time and payroll records.

The DBRA requires all contractors and subcontractors performing work on federal and certain federally funded projects to pay their laborers and mechanics the proper prevailing wage rates and fringe benefits, as determined by the secretary of labor. On a DBRA project, the prime contractor is responsible for the compliance of subcontractors and lower-tier subcontractors.

For more information about federal wage laws, call the Wage and Hour Division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information also is available at http://www.dol.gov/whd/.

Agency
Wage and Hour Division
Date
June 1, 2016
Release Number
16-0947-DAL
Media Contact: Juan Rodriguez

Grand Rapids restaurant, owners agree with court order to comply with federal record-keeping rules after department’s Wage and Hour investigation

News Brief

Grand Rapids restaurant, owners agree with court order to comply with federal record-keeping rules after department’s Wage and Hour investigation

Type of Action: Fair Labor Standards Act consent judgment

Names of Defendants: Tian Li Restaurant Inc., doing business as Ming Ten Restaurant
Jin Ling Ren
Shi Ju Xing

Complaint: Under terms of a consent judgment, Tian Li Restaurant Inc., operating as Ming Ten Restaurant in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and its owners and managers, Jin Ling Ren and Shi Ju Xing, have agreed to comply with the Fair Labor Standards Act’s recordkeeping requirements.

An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division determined since its incorporation in January 2014 Ming Ten Restaurant, and its owners and managers failed to keep legally required records of:

  • The number of hours worked daily and weekly by all employees.
  • Total daily and weekly earnings of all employees.
  • Employee information including full names, addresses, occupation and shifts worked, dates of hire and hourly rates or salaries.

Resolution: The consent judgment, entered with the U.S. District Court, Western District of Michigan, Southern Division, enjoins the defendants from violating FLSA recordkeeping provisions and requires the employer to:

  • Provide employees with a pay stub each pay date that includes total hours worked and paid, and total earnings at their regular rate, overtime rate, gross amounts paid, tips received, and if applicable, any deductions taken.
  • Display in a place visible to employees both the Federal FLSA poster  (in English, Spanish and Mandarin) and the State of Michigan General Requirements Minimum Wage and Overtime Poster.

Under terms of a separate agreement, the company will also pay a total of $45,423 in unpaid overtime and minimum wages to 12 employees who worked as servers, buffet attendants and kitchen staff following the Wage and Hour investigation.

Quote: “Too often, restaurant workers do not receive the pay they have rightfully earned because the employer’s records do not accurately reflect the hours they have worked,” said Mary O’Rourke, district director for the Wage and Hour Division in Grand Rapids. “Some employers intentionally fail to keep records as a part of their efforts to avoid paying the wages they are legally responsible for paying. This judgment illustrates how seriously the Wage and Hour Division takes this issue – we will continue to use every tool available to us, including litigation, to ensure that employers hold up their end of the bargain and record and pay for every hour an employee works.”

Information: The FLSA requires that employers pay covered, nonexempt employees at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour for all hours worked, plus time and one-half their regular hourly rates for hours worked beyond 40 per week. Additionally, the law requires employers to maintain accurate time and payroll records and prohibits retaliation against employees who exercise their rights under the law. For more information about the FLSA and other federal wage laws, call the Wage and Hour Division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information also is available at www.dol.gov/whd/fmla.

Court: U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan

Docket Number: 1:16-cv-432

Agency
Wage and Hour Division
Date
May 31, 2016
Release Number
16-0891-CHI
Media Contact: Scott Allen
Phone Number
Media Contact: Rhonda Burke
Phone Number

Federal court orders Bay Area taxi, limo companies’ owner to pay misclassified workers $175K in back wages, damages

News Release

Federal court orders Bay Area taxi, limo companies’ owner to pay misclassified workers $175K in back wages, damages

Sayed Abbas, Silicon Valley company cheated employees, competitors and taxpayers

SAN FRANCISCO – A federal judge has ordered the owner of a Bay Area taxi and limousine service to pay a collective $175,000 in back wages and damages to dozens of drivers who the company misclassified as independent contractors and failed to pay minimum wage and overtime pay as federal law requires. 

The order entered in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California follows years of denial by Sayed Abbas – owner of the Mountain View-based Stanford Yellow Taxi Cab, Inc. and AAA Legacy Limousine, Inc. – that his drivers were employees, not independent contractors.

The action culminates a long-contested dispute with the U.S. Department of Labor. In addition to accepting the ruling that his drivers are, in fact, employees, Abbas also admitted that he and his companies violated the minimum wage, overtime, and recordkeeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

In May 2015, Judge Edward J. Davila found Abbas and his companies misclassified its drivers as independent contractors. He also supported the contention by the department’s Wage and Hour Division that the companies’ management retaliated against drivers and interfered with the division’s investigation.

“The court’s decision confirms what we’ve maintained all along: that Stanford Yellow Taxi Cab and AAA Legacy Limousine drivers are indeed employees who should be paid and afforded all of the benefits federal law requires,” said Susana Blanco, director of the department’s Wage and Hour Division office in San Francisco. “This case shows again that we will go to great lengths and do what’s needed to see that workers receive a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work.”

“We see far too many employers misclassifying employees as independent contractors to avoid their obligation to pay the minimum wage and comply with worker protection and tax laws. Misclassification hurts workers and their families, cheats taxpayers and industry competitors,” said Janet Herold, solicitor for the department’s Western Region. “Employers like Sayed Abbas take advantage of vulnerable workers by making them sign sham independent contractor agreements that mask actual working conditions. The court’s order underscores that an employer cannot demand economic dependence from workers while also denying those workers their required wages under the Fair Labor Standards Act.”

Some employers intentionally misclassify their workers as independent contractors to reduce labor expenses.  Once an employer ceases to consider a worker an employee, they wrongfully reduce their payroll expenses by neglecting to make legally-required contributions to unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation funds. By misclassifying their workers, employers also avoid remitting payroll taxes, resulting in huge losses to state treasuries, and the federal Social Security and Medicare programs.

Stanford Yellow Taxicab and AAA Legacy Limousine required drivers to work six days per week for 12-hour shifts and only paid the drivers a percentage of their fares, taking no measures to ensure the drivers received at least the minimum wage for all hours worked. The companies also did not allow drivers to change their schedules or operate independently by reaching out directly to passengers. Drivers also had to abide by a dress code.

Stanford Yellow Taxicab Inc. and AAA Limousine Inc. provide transportation services in Silicon Valley.

The FLSA requires that covered, nonexempt workers be paid at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour for all hours worked, plus one and one-half times their regular wages for hours worked beyond 40 per week. Employers also must maintain accurate time and payroll records.  Employers are prohibited from retaliating against workers who exercise their rights under the law.

For more information about federal wage laws administered by the division, call the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Wage and Hour’s services are free and confidential. Information also is available at http://www.dol.gov/whd/.

Agency
Wage and Hour Division
Date
May 25, 2016
Release Number
16-0965-SAN
Media Contact: Leo Kay
Phone Number
Media Contact: Jose Carnevali

Court orders Newark flooring company to pay $280K in back wages, damages to 15 employees after US Labor Department investigation

News Brief

Court orders Newark flooring company to pay $280K in back wages, damages to 15 employees after US Labor Department investigation

Type of Action: Consent judgment

Defendant(s): Ferry Carpets Inc., Alina Lolo, and Antonio Lolo

Resolution: Flooring company Ferry Carpets Inc. will pay 15 employees $140,000 in back wages and $140,000 in liquidated damages under the terms of a consent judgment entered in a U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey in Newark on May 24.

The judgment resolves a lawsuit that followed an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division, which alleged that the employer violated the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime and recordkeeping provisions.

Investigators found that, from February 2013 to February 2015, Ferry Carpets:

  • Paid employees who worked as floor installers a fixed salary, without regard to how many hours they worked, resulting in overtime violations when they worked beyond 40 hours per week. These employees typically worked from 45 to 72 hours a week.
  • Failed to pay employees for time spent loading vehicles or traveling from the employer’s location to the day’s first job site.
  • Attempted to simulate FLSA compliance and conceal its failure to pay overtime premium rates by creating and submitting false records reflecting that employees worked 40 hours or less per week when it knew that employees were regularly working overtime hours.

As a result of the consent judgment, Ferry Carpets agreed to:

  • Post and provide employees with information regarding their rights under the FLSA and how to contact the Wage and Hour Division if they believe the employer failed to pay them properly.
  • Use a time clock or other automated record-keeping practice to accurately record employee work hours.
  • For each workweek, prepare a statement of hours worked by each employee for each day, week, and pay period. Each employee must review, make corrections if necessary, and sign.
  • Obtain the services of an independent, third-party examiner to audit the employer’s compliance with the FLSA, once, within six months from the entry of the consent judgment.

Quote: “The violations found in this case are all too common in this industry,” said John Warner, director of the Northern New Jersey Wage and Hour District Office. “Ferry Carpets denied these low-wage workers the wages they had rightfully and legally earned, profiting on the backs of their employees. This settlement demonstrates that the U.S. Department of Labor is determined to ensure that workers receive a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work, and that employers who break the law do not get an unfair competitive advantage over those who play by the rules.”

Background: Founded in 1988, Ferry Carpets sells and installs commercial and residential carpeting, hardwood, laminate and vinyl flooring.

The FLSA requires that covered, nonexempt employees be paid at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour for all hours worked, plus time and one-half their regular hourly rates for hours worked beyond 40 per week. The FLSA provides that employers who violate the law are, as a general rule, liable to employees for their back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages. Liquidated damages are paid directly to the affected employees. Additionally, the law requires employers to maintain accurate time and payroll records and prohibits retaliation against employees who exercise their rights under the law.

For more information about the FLSA and other federal wage laws, call the Wage and Hour Division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information also is available at http://www.dol.gov/whd/.

Perez v. Ferry Carpets Inc., et al
Civil action number: 2:15-cv-03374

Court: U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, Newark

Agency
Wage and Hour Division
Date
May 25, 2016
Release Number
16-0832-NEW
Media Contact: Joanna Hawkins
Media Contact: Leni Fortson

Molina Healthcare of New Mexico to pay $700K to more than 400 caseworkers after US Labor Department investigation finds them eligible for overtime

News Brief

Molina Healthcare of New Mexico to pay $700K to more than 400 caseworkers after US Labor Department investigation finds them eligible for overtime

Employer: Molina Healthcare of New Mexico Inc.

Site: 400 Tijeras SE, Suite 200, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Investigation Findings: A U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation found Molina Healthcare of New Mexico Inc. violated the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The employer incorrectly applied an exemption from the FLSA’s overtime requirements, meant for salaried executive, administrative and professional employees, to case managers. To meet the criteria for exemption, employees must be paid a minimum guaranteed salary, and must perform job duties specific to that exemption. While case managers working for Molina Healthcare met the salary requirement, their job duties did not support the employer’s determination that these employees were exempt from overtime.

Resolution: Molina Healthcare of New Mexico will pay $701,855 in back wages to 409 employees, and will provide training to their managers on this issue.

Quote: “Denying workers their hard-earned overtime pay not only hurts them and their families, it also places law-abiding employers at a competitive disadvantage,” said Betty Campbell, regional administrator for the Wage and Hour Division in the Southwest. “This case should encourage other employers in this industry to take a close look at their own pay practices to ensure they are not paying workers in violation of the law. We will continue to educate employers and to conduct investigations to ensure workers receive a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work.”

Information: For more information about the FLSA, call the Wage and Hour Division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information also is available at http://www.dol.gov/whd/.

Agency
Wage and Hour Division
Date
May 24, 2016
Release Number
16-0738-DAL
Media Contact: Juan Rodriguez

Court judgment orders four Phoenix-area Federico’s Mexican Food Restaurants to pay workers $202K in overtime back wages, damages

News Brief

Court judgment orders four Phoenix-area Federico’s Mexican Food Restaurants to pay workers $202K in overtime back wages, damages

Some employees worked on average 48 weekly hours for only $8 per hour with no overtime

Employer: Federico’s Mexican Food Restaurant

Sites: 4014 North 43 Avenue, Phoenix, Arizona
3730 West Happy Valley Road, Suite 109, Glendale, Arizona
20429 North Lake Pleasant, Suite 101, Peoria, Arizona
7410 South 35 Avenue, Laveen, Arizona

Investigation findings: An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found that four locations of the Federico’s Mexican Food restaurant chain failed to pay the additional half-time for each hour worked beyond 40 in a work week, as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act. The employer paid hourly employees overtime hours at straight time, in cash, and off the record. The company also failed to pay overtime for the combined hours worked at multiple locations during the same week. Some of the employees worked an average of 48 hours per week for $8 per hour with no overtime. In addition, Federico’s failed to keep accurate records of the hours and wages paid, also in violation of FLSA’s recordkeeping provisions.

Resolution: Federico’s Mexican Food admitted to willfully violating the FLSA’s overtime and recordkeeping provisions. In a consent judgment filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona on May 20, a judge ordered the restaurant chain to pay $101,175 in overtime back wages and an equal, additional amount in damages to 48 employees. The judgment requires the restaurants to improve their system to record hours worked, to provide employees with pay stubs that clearly show the number of hours worked and wages paid per period, and to distribute employee handbooks that include fact sheets from U.S. Labor Department and contact information for the Wage and Hour Division.    

Quote: “Wage violations, especially with overtime, are far too common in the restaurant industry,” said Eric Murray, district director for the Wage and Hour Division in Phoenix. “We will continue to ensure that workers get paid all the wages they rightfully earn, even if some employers use tactics such as paying cash and off-the-books to avoid what is required by law.”

The department’s regional office of the solicitor litigated the case.

Federico’s Mexican Food has 21 locations in Arizona and three in New Mexico.

Information: For more information about federal wage laws administered by the Wage and Hour Division, call the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information also is available at http://www.dol.gov/whd/.

Agency
Wage and Hour Division
Date
May 24, 2016
Release Number
16-1031-SAN
Media Contact: Leo Kay
Phone Number
Media Contact: Jose Carnevali

U.S. Labor Department’s ongoing enforcement effort protects Washington farmworkers’ wages, rights; ensures employers comply with federal labor laws

News Release

U.S. Labor Department’s ongoing enforcement effort protects Washington farmworkers’ wages, rights; ensures employers comply with federal labor laws

Investigations recoup $318K in back wages, damages for thousands of workers

SEATTLE – The next time you enjoy an apple, a pear, a cherry or some other fruit, think for a moment about the people whose labor brought it to your table. From sun-up to sundown, these men and women exchange low wages earned in fields and packing houses for hard work and sore bodies.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division ensures workers like these receive the wages, protections and benefits to which they are entitled by law. Since 2014, the division has engaged in an ongoing enforcement initiative focused on ensuring that agricultural employers in the Northwest comply with federal labor laws.

In Washington State, results of those efforts to date include the recovery of $318,000 in unpaid wages and damages for thousands of farmworkers. In dozens of agricultural facilities statewide, investigators have found growers and fruit packing facilities violating federal pay and recordkeeping requirements. The division has recouped back wages and damages from some of Washington’s largest fruit processing facilities, including Wenatchee’s Stemilt Growers, Yakima’s Borton Fruit and Cowiche’s Strand Apples. In these cases, the division has also collected $25,000 in penalties.

“Employers need to pay these hardworking men and women, who help put food on the tables of millions of American households, what they have rightfully earned,” said Jeanette Aranda, district director for the Wage and Hour Division in Seattle. “When these workers are shorted, it not only hurts them and their families, it also creates a competitive disadvantage for growers who pay their employees properly and play by the rules. We remain committed to protecting the rights of these often vulnerable workers, and to ensuring a level playing field.”

At peak harvest, packers and sorters work six to seven days per week readying cherries, apples, pears and other produce to ship to market. Federal investigators found many employers failed to pay workers for time spent prepping boxes or waiting for machines to be repaired. They also found employers denying pay to farmworkers for time spent traveling to and from the orchards during the workday, and for time spent in required training.

In addition to wage violations, investigators have found many growers failed to notify workers of federal worksite rights and to provide migrant farmworkers with written terms and conditions of employment when they recruited them.

The division administers many laws that extend various protections to different types of agricultural workers. They include:

  • The Fair Labor Standards Act contains federal minimum wage, overtime, recordkeeping and child labor requirements for covered employers.
  • The Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act protects agricultural workers by establishing employment standards related to wages, housing, transportation, disclosures and recordkeeping. The act also requires farm labor contractors and their employees to register with the U.S. Department of Labor and to obtain special authorization before housing, transporting or driving covered workers.
  • The H-2A visa program establishes standards related to recruitment, wages, housing, transportation and recordkeeping for employers of temporary non-immigrant agricultural workers admitted to the country under the Immigration and Nationality Act.

For more information about federal wage laws administered by the Wage and Hour Division, call the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information also is available at http://www.dol.gov/whd/.

Read this news release en españól.

Agency
Wage and Hour Division
Date
May 23, 2016
Release Number
16-0979-SEA
Media Contact: Leo Kay
Phone Number
Media Contact: Jose Carnevali

US Labor Department recovers $189k in wages on behalf of 28 underpaid workers on federally funded Manhattan construction project

News Release

US Labor Department recovers $189k in wages on behalf of 28 underpaid workers on federally funded Manhattan construction project

SJ Insulation debarred from future government contracts following joint enforcement effort with New York Attorney General

NEW YORK – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $189,000 in unpaid wages and overtime for 28  carpenters and laborers who worked on the federally funded West 131st St. Cluster Project in Harlem between April 2009 and April 2010. This was the result of a joint enforcement effort with the office of New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman in which the two agencies shared information and worked collaboratively on behalf of workers in New York. The attorney general’s investigation continues.

“Contractors on federally funded construction projects commit to paying their workers the required wages and fringe benefits when they bid these contracts. When, as in this case, they cheat their workers, they are also cheating the taxpayers who ultimately fund these jobs,” said Wage and Hour Division Regional Administrator Mark Watson, Jr. “As the resolution of this case demonstrates, we will not tolerate such illegal behavior.”

“We thank Attorney General Schneiderman and his staff for working jointly with us during the prosecution of this case. We have the mutual goals of ensuring that employees in our jurisdictions are paid and treated properly and employers who underpay their workers do not secure an unfair advantage over law-abiding employers,” said Jeffrey S. Rogoff, the department’s regional solicitor in New York.

An investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division found that SJ Insulation Corp., a second-tier subcontractor hired to perform all carpentry work on the gut rehabilitation of a five-story apartment building, failed to pay its workers the prevailing wages, overtime, and fringe benefits required by law. In addition, SJ Insulation submitted falsified certified payroll records to the government and failed to maintain accurate and complete payroll records.

Specifically, the division found that SJ Insulation submitted numerous certified payrolls to the government falsely claiming that it employed only two unskilled laborers and a single carpenter at the five-story building, and that these workers were paid the legally required prevailing wages of $33.59 per hour and $40.25 per hour, respectively, plus fringe benefits. In fact, SJ Insulation employed at least 28 workers over the course of the project. The division determined that SJ typically paid these workers only about $10 per hour, and failed to pay any fringe benefits. In addition, the employer paid 13 of these employees straight time for overtime hours worked. It also determined that SJ Insulation and its owner committed these acts willfully. After SJ failed to defend itself in court, an administrative law judge ordered that the company be debarred from working on federally financed projects for a period of three years. 

The division also found that the project’s general contractor, A. Aleem Construction Inc., and its prime contractor, West 131st Street Development Corp., were responsible for the payment of back wages. West 131 did not contest these findings. Under the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts, prime contractors are responsible for ensuring that their subcontractors comply with the acts’ requirements.

The department has secured a consent findings and order with its Office of Administrative Law Judges under which Aleem Construction agrees to release $189,000 in withheld funds to the Wage and Hour Division, which will distribute the monies to the 28 affected workers. The order became final on March 1, 2016.

The Davis-Bacon and Related Acts and the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act require that employees on federally funded construction projects receive the locally prevailing wages and fringe benefits for the jobs they perform and that they also receive overtime when they work more than 40 hours per workweek.

For more information about federal wage laws administered by the Wage and Hour Division, call the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information also is available at http://www.dol.gov/whd/.

Read this news release en españól.

Agency
Wage and Hour Division
Date
May 25, 2016
Release Number
16-0804-NEW
Media Contact: Ted Fitzgerald
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