DA announces effort to fight wage theft

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

BY CITY NEWS SERVICE LOS ANGELES
PUBLISHED 3:43 PM PT APR. 14, 2022

LOS ANGELES (CNS) — Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón Thursday announced an agreement with the California Labor Commissioner to bolster the investigation and prosecution of wage theft.

The pact calls on the state’s Department of Industrial Relations to identify and refer investigative leads, complaints and referrals of possible violations to the District Attorney’s Office for civil and criminal prosecution.

“When hard-working people are not paid the money they have rightfully earned, they lose their ability to feed, clothe and house their families, creating a cascading effect that causes our entire community to suffer along with them,” the district attorney said in a written statement.

A 2020 study found that up to 21% of the construction workforce — some 2.4 million workers — are illegally paid off the books or misclassified as independent contractors, according to the District Attorney’s Office, which noted that losses to federal and state treasuries amount to some $8.4 billion.

Frank Hawk, president of the Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters, lauded Gascón for helping to “fight against wage theft and fraud in the construction industry here in Los Angeles, the majority of which is happening in the multi-family residential housing sector.”

Meanwhile, the district attorney also announced a separate pilot pretrial diversion program with Southwest Carpenters for young adults facing criminal charges.

The program, dubbed “Ready,” will provide 20 people between the ages of 18 and 25 with a pathway to a career as a union carpenter with full benefits and a pension, and will partner with Homeboy Industries, Second Call and Volunteers of America to create a pipeline to the union’s pre- apprenticeship programs, including a four-week program in Whittier that is geared toward the under-served people of Los Angeles, including the formerly incarcerated, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

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Labor Commissioner’s Office Files $6.3 Million Misclassification and Wage Theft Lawsuit against Glendale Construction Company (CA)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on
PR Newswire

Aug. 14, 2017, 01:55 PM

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 14, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The Labor Commissioner’s Office has filed a lawsuit against Calcrete Construction, Inc. seeking $6,300,338 for multiple wage theft violations affecting a group of 249 construction workers and the willful misclassification of 175 workers as independent contractors.

An investigation launched in October 2016 uncovered the Glendale-based company’s failure to pay the workers for overtime hours, allocate pay for sick leave and provide proper wage statements. The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, also seeks civil damages and penalties.

Beginning in August 2016, Calcrete forced its workers under threat of termination to sign contracts stating they were independent contractors. The company then used staffing agencies Dominion Staffing and Southeast Personnel Leasing to pay the workers.

“It is illegal for employers to use subcontractors to distance themselves from the obligation to pay workers, and we will use every tool to dissuade employers from this scheme,” said Labor Commissioner Julie A. Su. “This lawsuit aims to recover the money these misclassified workers should have been paid after years of wage theft.”

Calcrete employees typically worked 10-12 hours Monday through Friday and eight hours on Saturday. They were paid only their regular hourly rate and not for the 18-28 hours of overtime they regularly worked. This underpayment occurred for a nearly two- year period from 2014-16, the lawsuit specifies.

The lawsuit seeks:
  • Wages and damages of approximately $2,596,438 payable to the workers:
    • $352,000 in overtime wages
    • $1,244,438 in waiting time penalties
    • Over $1,000,000 (specific amount to be determined at trial) for unpaid sick leave and liquated damages
  • Penalties of approximately $3,703,900 payable to the state:
    • $2,625,000 in statuary penalties for willful misclassification
    • $78,900 in civil penalties.
    • Over $1,000,000 (specific amount to be determined at trial) for failure to provide proper wage statements

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California Truck Drivers Go On Indefinite Strike

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

More than 120 truck drivers who haul consumer goods from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to retail warehouses launched an indefinite strike on Monday, according to MSNBC, escalating a tumultuous multi-year union organizing effort among the drivers. The consumer brands whose supplies could be affected by the strikes include Skechers shoes, Ralph Lauren, Walmart, and Home Depot, according to a press release from strike organizers.

The core complaint underlying the union drive is that companies like Total Transportation Services, Inc. (TTSI), Green Fleet Systems, and Pacific 9 Transportation deem their drivers “independent contractors” in order to avoid paying overtime and prevent their workers from enjoying various other labor law protections. The drivers say they are misclassified and should be treated as full employees, and have begun to flood the California Labor Commission with wage theft complaints in order to fight the misclassification and seek the pay that the “independent contractor” label has cost them over the years.

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