A.G. Schneiderman Announces Conviction Of Contractor Who Will Pay Nearly $800,000 To Workers For Wage Theft

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

MAY 20, 2016
BY CHRISTOPHER BOYLE

(Long Island, NY) Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced that New Paltz-based construction company Lalo Drywall, Inc. and its owner Sergio Raymundo, 28, were sentenced in Manhattan Supreme Court after a conviction related to wage theft for underpaying workers at a mixed-use, commercial, and low-income residential project in Harlem.

Raymundo and Lalo Drywall, Inc. admitted to cheating eight workers at a Harlem housing project out of approximately $800,000 in wages during a 17-month period. The defendants attempted to conceal the underpayments by signing false checks drawn on the company’s account indicating that employees on the job were paid properly under the law. However, those checks were never actually given to the workers.

“Wage theft is a crime – one that frequently involves companies exploiting low and middle income workers for their own gain,” said Attorney General Schneiderman. “My office will continue to aggressively prosecute those who commit wage theft and ensure that workers received the compensation they have earned.”

(Read More)

Court Orders Payment of Government Contract Retirement Plan Contributions

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

The DOL alleged that James Brunk and Brunk Industries Inc. failed to collect prevailing wage employer contributions for the employees’ 401(k) plan provided by government contracts for work performed by defendant’s employees.

By Rebecca Moore
April 22, 2016

The Department of Labor (DOL) has secured a consent judgment to restore of $95,000 to the 401(k) plan sponsored by Brunk Industries Inc. in Oakdale, California.

Based on an investigation by the DOL’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), the DOL filed a complaint alleging that James Brunk and Brunk Industries Inc. failed to collect prevailing wage employer contributions for the employees’ 401(k) plan. These contributions were provided by government contracts for work performed by defendant’s employees under prevailing wage laws.

Instead, the defendants retained and comingled the contributions with company assets and used the funds for non-Plan purposes, in violation of the Employees Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California approved a consent judgment and order requiring the defendants to restore $95,109 to the 401(k) plan. In addition, the judgment removes Brunk as the plan’s fiduciary and appoints Lefoldt & Company as the independent fiduciary responsible for winding up the plan, including the distribution of its assets to participants. Brunk will pay $4,890 of the costs for this independent fiduciary, and also may be assessed a 20% civil penalty on the amount restored to the plan. The court order also permanently enjoins Brunk from serving as a fiduciary of, or service provider to, any ERISA-covered employee benefit plan in future.

(Read Court Order Here)

Cambridge Takes Steps to Protect Workers from Wage Theft (MA)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Richard Rogers and Darlene Lombos
03/18/2016

This week, workers in Cambridge, Massachusetts, gained new protections for making sure they are paid fairly and on time. On March 14, city manager Richard Rossi signed an executive order establishing certification requirements for vendors bidding on city contracts. The measure seeks to prevent wage theft, which is the improper withholding of payment from employees and the failure to pay employees according to required schedules. Wage theft most often involves employers paying less than the minimum, contracted or prevailing wage, not paying for all hours worked, or not paying overtime for hours exceeding 40 per week. But wage theft can take many forms—employers may never send the final paycheck or may misclassify workers as independent contractors.

“This executive order is a clear indication of Cambridge’s continuing commitment to wage justice,” Rossi said. “The provisions put into effect today provide the city the protections that are needed to ensure that we are dealing with quality contractors. We have created a simple and fair process for both the city and for our contractors.”

Under the executive order, vendors bidding on city contracts will be required to certify their compliance with federal and state wage law with the city, and if the vendors have previous violations, they are required to disclose them and provide a wage bond for the duration of the contract. These measures strengthen the city’s ability to hire vendors that treat their employees fairly.

(Read More)

Weakening a prevailing wage law by raising coverage thresholds has negative impacts on local contractors, construction workers, and economies, according to a new study

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

(ILEPI Report) Prevailing Wage Thresholds Lower the Bar in Public Construction

 
Posted by Frank Manzo IV
4/5/2016

The report, An Analysis of the Impact of Prevailing Wage Thresholds On Public Construction: Implications for Illinois, was conducted jointly by the Illinois Economic Policy Institute (ILEPI) and the Project for Middle Class Renewal (PMCR) at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign.

It is the first study to focus specifically on prevailing wage thresholds.

A prevailing wage threshold is the minimum cost of a public project at which point workers must be paid prevailing wage rates. Publicly-funded projects below the threshold are exempt from the law, while those above are covered. Contract thresholds vary by state, from those with no threshold (such as Illinois) up to $500,000 in Maryland.

Although the study forecasts effects on Illinois if the state were to introduce a prevailing wage threshold, the report is applicable to any state that is considering raising a contract threshold.

(Read More)

(PDF of Study)

USDOL Announces Prevailing Wage Seminars for 2016

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Join us at a Prevailing Wage Seminar in your region!

The Wage and Hour Division (WHD) Prevailing Wage Seminars (Prevailing Wage Seminars) are three-day compliance trainings designed for regional stakeholders (unions, private contractors, state agencies, federal agencies and workers). In these seminars, conference participants will learn about the following:

  • The Davis-Bacon Act and McNamara O’Hara Service Contract Act
  • Executive Order 13495 “Nondisplacement of Qualified Workers”
  • Executive Order 13658 “Establishing a Minimum Wage for Contractors”
  • The process of obtaining wage determinations and adding classifications
  • Compliance assistance and enforcement processes
  • The process for appealing wage rates, coverage, and compliance determinations

There is no fee to attend these seminars; however, space is limited. If you wish to attend, please click on the registration link for your desired location and follow the registration prompts. Each attendee must register separately. If registration is not yet open for the event you wish to attend, please check back. Please feel free to email WHDPWS@dol.gov if you have any questions.

Date                                 Location
May 3 – 5, 2016                Minneapolis, MN
May 24 – 26, 2016            Charlotte, NC
June 7 -9, 2016                Stamford, CT
June 14 – 16, 2016           Albuquerque, NM

August 23 – 25, 2016       Portland, OR

For more information regarding the upcoming prevailing wage seminars, as well as information on the DBA and SCA visit http://www.dol.gov/whd/govcontracts or call the Wage and Hour Division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243).

AGREEMENT BETWEEN US DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, OREGON BUREAU OF LABOR PROVIDES EDUCATION, ENFORCEMENT TO PROTECT WORKERS FROM MISCLASSIFICATION

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

WHD News Brief:
04/04/2016

Release Number:
16-0414-NAT

Participants:
U.S. Department of Labor’s
Wage and Hour Division
Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries

Partnership description:
The division and bureau 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 coordinated investigations and sharing information consistent with applicable law.

(Read More)

Wage theft watchdogs

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Shortchanged: An in-depth look at wage theft

By ERIC BEST
APRIL 19, 2016

The Fair Contracting Foundation of Minnesota is one of the Twin Cities’ leading organizations in the fight against wage theft.

The foundation is one of just a few dozen organizations across the country that focus on wage theft in the public sector construction industry, and the only one in Minnesota. Created in 2011, the nonprofit labor management committee employees three investigative attorneys who pursue complaints and cases of wage theft, from local contactors not paying prevailing wages to employees misclassified as independent contractors, in all levels of government across the state.

We spoke with Mike Wilde, the foundation’s executive director, to talk about FCF’s work and wage theft.

Q: Why was the foundation created?

Mike Wilde: The FCF was created as a program sponsored by the [Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council] to address some of the wage theft and unlawful practices in the publicly funded construction industry. The [council] had seen many laws go unenforced for a long time and they wanted to make sure all the contractors that were bidding on public work were adhering to the law. And so they created the Fair Contracting Foundation, the very first for the state.

(Read More)

On the wage theft beat

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Shortchanged: An in-depth look at wage theft

By DYLAN THOMAS
APRIL 19, 2016

If labor activists have turned up the volume on the discussion around wage theft, that’s a good thing, said John Aiken, director of the Apprenticeship and Labor Standards Division of the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, the state agency that investigates worker complaints.

“What that is doing is raising the profile of this issue and, hopefully as one of the consequences of this, is driving people to this office to seek the assistance that they deserve,” Aiken said.

The department receives more than 20,000 inquiries each year. While some of the phone calls and emails concern child labor laws, the majority of complaints fall into the category of illegal activity commonly known as “wage theft,” including workers who never received a final paycheck from a previous employer, weren’t paid overtime or had illegal deductions taken out of their wages.

The increased attention being paid to wage theft has thrown a spotlight on the laws that are meant to protect workers, employers who seem to flout the rules and the resources that are available to go after lawbreakers. Both state agencies and their federal counterparts at the U.S. Department of Labor are noticing.
“As a person who does law enforcement, I would always like a bigger staff,” David King, district director for the federal Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division office in Minneapolis, said. “We could always find work for people to do. There’s lots of things that can be done to help protect workers. That’s just a reality.

(Read More)

(Rhode Island) Senate passes two bills governing unpaid wages

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

3/31/2016

PROVIDENCE – The Rhode Island Senate passed two pieces of legislation Thursday designed to curtail the theft of wages from employees by unscrupulous employers. The measures offer employees improved methods for collecting unpaid wages.

The first piece of legislation passed was sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Dominick Ruggerio, of District 4, North Providence, Providence. Ruggerio’s bill would establish a procedure for employees to secure liens against employers for unpaid wages and contested claims would be decided by the Superior Court.

(Read More)

(Mayor) Cranley proposes minimum wage boost for city employees to $15 per hour

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Sen. Sherrod Brown joins mayor for announcement

BY: Kristen Swilley, Austin Fast
POSTED: 11:53 AM, Mar 29, 2016
UPDATED: 5:54 PM, Mar 29, 2016

CINCINNATI — Full-time city employees could soon be earning a minimum wage of $15 per hour, among other labor reforms aimed at strengthening the middle class that were announced Tuesday morning by Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Mayor John Cranley

…

The reform package announced Tuesday includes three components:

  • Raising Cincinnati’s living wage from $12.58 to $15 per hour for its full-time (at least 30 hours per week) employees and from $8.25 to $10.10 per hour for its part-time and seasonal workers. Going forward, these increase wage rates are indexed to the Consumer Price Index and will be adjusted annually;
  • Creating a city prevailing wage law that dramatically expands the types and number of government subsidies that trigger prevailing wage requirements. If triggered, the city’s prevailing wage requirements would apply when the state’s requirements are not triggered.
  • Implementing crane safety measures (following a crane accident at The Banks in February) to ensure all crane operators in the city are qualified and all crane operators are appropriately insured.

 

(Read More)