City will soon be able to revoke permits at unsafe work sites

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

By Meghan E. Irons GLOBE STAFF
DECEMBER 16, 2016

City officials will soon have the authority to deny, revoke, or suspend a permit for any contractor with a poor record of ensuring their workers’ safety.

The City Council approved the safety measure this week, sending a strong message to anyone pulling permits after two construction workers died in October when a water line burst under a South End street, flooding the trench and thwarting attempts to save the men.

The employees – Robert Higgins and Kelvin Mattocks – worked for Atlantic Drain Services, a Roslindale company that was found to have a long and troubling history of violations, including citations for workers lacking oxygen underground and for conditions that could lead to cave-ins, federal records show.

Mayor Martin J. Walsh, who filed the ordinance proposal in November, aimed to hold individuals and companies accountable and sought better protection for workers by giving the city the power to intervene on their behalf.

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CONSTRUCTION FIRMS ORDERED TO PAY $2.4 MILLION IN BACK WAGES

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Two entwined Massachusetts companies deliberately misclassified hourly workers as independent contractors

December 06, 2016

The Labor Department said today that Anderson Dos Santos, owner and president of AB Construction Group and Juliano Fernandes, general manager at Force Corporation cheated 478 construction workers out of overtime wages and employment benefits.

The Labor Department said Force prepared and controlled the payroll and payment procedures for both companies. AB Construction was formed to supply Force with labor. The pair used a combination of payroll checks and cash and check payments to pay their employees straight time when overtime pay was required and kept inadequate and inaccurate time and payroll records, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

“To be cheated out of wages and denied other workplace protections by an employer who deliberately flouts the rules compounds the struggles too many middle-class Americans already face,” U.S. Labor Secretary Thomas E. Perez said in a statement. “Workers who play by the rules deserve nothing less than to be paid what they are owed.”

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Column: Senate legislation to end wage theft epidemic

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By STAN ROSENBERG and SAL DIDOMENICO
Wednesday, October 19, 2016

The Massachusetts economy is working very, very well for some people, but not nearly well enough for others. That’s why we have one of the highest rates of income inequality in the country.

Building an economy that works for everyone is one of the top priorities of the Massachusetts Senate. We are fortunate to have thriving industries in Massachusetts, like solar energy, cyber security and pharmaceuticals. We have companies that make headlines around the world for the pioneering work they do. They pay their workers well, and they make a substantial contribution to our economy.

Less well known is a persistent underground economy, with companies that never make headlines and use that to their advantage to exploit some of our most vulnerable workers. Those companies don’t pay their workers good wages, and sometimes they even refuse to pay them for the work they do. That’s wage theft, and it’s against the law.

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Plymouth man charged with wage theft from employees

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Joseph B. Kerrissey III and two companies indicted, says AG Healey

BY CAPECODTODAY STAFF
OCTOBER 11, 2016 02:12 PM |

A Plymouth man has been charged in connection with an alleged wage theft scheme that spans back to 2011 in which he owes $100,000 to workers, Attorney General Maura Healey announced today. He also faces larceny and unemployment fraud charges for failing to contribute to the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance (DUA).

Joseph B. Kerrissey , III, age 39, and his companies J. Kerrissey, LLC and Sunrise Equipment & Excavation, Inc. were indicted by a Statewide Grand Jury. The defendants will be arraigned in Suffolk Superior Court on Oct. 26 and in Plymouth Superior Court at a later date.

“This defendant allegedly engaged in a pattern of refusing to pay his workers the wages they were rightfully owed and used a variety of methods to dissuade them from seeking to obtain those wages,” said AG Healey. “We know that workers in the construction industry are particularly susceptible to abuse. People who work hard should be able to provide for themselves and their families and we will continue to hold accountable employers who exploit their workers.”

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AG Healey Issues First-Ever Labor Day Report on Efforts to Combat Wage Theft, Revamps Workplace Rights Website with Innovative Features

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Report Shows $3.8 Million in Restitution and Penalties Recovered on Behalf of Workers in FY 16; New Easy-to-Navigate Website includes Searchable Public Data, Content in Various Languages

For Immediate Release – September 06, 2016
Media Contact – Emalie Gainey

BOSTON – To commemorate Labor Day and as a part of her continued efforts to protect workers and their families in Massachusetts, Attorney General Maura Healey today issued the first-ever Labor Day Report on her office’s efforts to combat and prevent wage theft. The report shows that in fiscal year 2016 alone, the office recovered $3.8 million in restitution and penalties on behalf of working people in Massachusetts.

AG Healey also announced her revamped workplace rights website with a new design and innovative features, including searchable public data and content in various languages. The new easy-to-navigate website will allow workers to better understand their rights and for employers, their obligations under state law.

“Wage theft is far too common, especially among vulnerable workers,” AG Healey said. “Our office will continue our efforts to aggressively use enforcement actions and educational outreach to help combat and prevent such theft. In Massachusetts, getting paid what you are owed is not a privilege, it is a right under the law. Everyone deserves an opportunity to participate fairly in our economy.”

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(See Full PDF Report Here)

MASSACHUSETTS COMPANIES TO PAY $2.4M IN OVERTIME, DAMAGES TO 478 WORKERS, MOST INTENTIONALLY MISCLASSIFIED AS INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS

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BOSTON – A Lunenburg construction company and a Framingham company it used to avoid its legal responsibilities as an employer have been ordered to pay a total of $2,359,685 in back wages and liquidated damages to 478 employees and take other corrective actions to prevent future violations of federal labor law. Under a consent judgment they will also pay $262,900 in civil money penalties due to the willful nature of their violations.

An investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division found that Force Corp., AB Construction Group Inc. and employers Juliano Fernandes and Anderson Dos Santos misclassified the bulk of their employees as independent contractors to avoid paying them overtime wages and other benefits to which they were entitled under the Fair Labor Standards Act. In addition, the defendants used a combination of payroll checks and cash/check payments to pay their employees straight time when overtime pay was required, and kept inadequate and inaccurate time and payroll records.

“American workers go to their jobs each and every day and work hard to help their employers turn a profit,” said U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez. “To be cheated out of wages and denied other workplace protections by an employer who deliberately flouts the rules compounds the struggles too many middle class Americans already face. Workers who play by the rules deserve nothing less than to be paid what they are owed.”

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Ashland contractor ordered to pay $117K to employees

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By Bill Shaner
July 29, 2016

 

BOSTON – An Ashland contractor must pay $117,000 in restitution after the Attorney General’s Office cited him for not paying employees fairly while they worked on the Acushnet Police Station.

On-Time Construction Services owner Jonatas Vicente de Brito violated the state’s wage law and failed to submit “true and accurate” payroll records, according to a release from Attorney General Maura Healey’s office Friday.

The AG’s investigators found that On-Time failed to pay three workers the prevailing wage, and that one wasn’t paid anything until the AG began its investigation a year ago. During this time, On-Time reported that its employees were paid the prevailing wage.

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Massachusetts Senate passes wage theft bill

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By Shira Schoenberg

On July 13, 2016

BOSTON – The Massachusetts Senate on Wednesday passed a controversial bill aimed at cracking down on wage theft.

“This is a matter of general fairness for the employees,” said State Sen. Sal

DiDomenico, D-Everett, the bill’s sponsor.

The bill, S.2416, passed by a 38-2 vote. The two dissenters were State Sen. Kenneth Donnelly, D-Arlington, and State Sen. Ryan Fattman, R-Webster.

The bill would make companies that contract with a subcontractor who withholds wages liable for those wages. The contractor could also be liable for fees and fines, if it knows or should have known about the wage theft.

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Historic Occasion:City Council Passes Wage Theft Ordinance in 11-0 Vote

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By Seth Daniel
April 29, 2016
It was an historic occasion on Monday night when the Chelsea City Council voted unanimously to enact a Wage Theft Ordinance – the first Council in the state to do so.

The City’s wage theft ordinance, brought to the floor by nine councillors earlier this month, would seek to make a statement about the prevalence of wage theft from employees, but in particular from vulnerable immigrant communities in the city. Practically speaking, the ordinance states that no contractor (or any subcontractor) or vendor hired by the City can have a federal or state criminal or civil judgment, administrative citation, final administrative determination, order or debarment resulting from a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act or any other federal or state laws regulating the payment of wages within three year prior to the date of any contract with the City. It also calls for any violation of the above laws during a contract period be reported to the City within five days.

It also includes a provision that allows the License Commission to deny any permit or license if violations of the law have been made within three years of any application. If any violation of the above law occurs during a licensed period, the Commission can also take action on a license for the violations.

Wage theft is defined roughly as not paying minimum wage, not paying overtime, withholding pay and sometimes not paying at all.

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AG Healey Assesses More Than $326,000 in Restitution and Penalties Against Construction Companies in First Quarter of 2016

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Part of an Ongoing Effort by the AG’s Office to Address Wage Theft in the Industry

MAURA HEALEY, ATTORNEY GENERAL

For Immediate Release – April 27, 2016

BOSTON – As part of an ongoing effort to address wage theft in the construction industry, Attorney General Maura Healey has issued 29 civil citations against construction companies from January 2016 through March 2016, an increase from the previous two quarters. Restitution for employees of the various employers totaled nearly $260,000 and the companies were fined a total of more than $68,000.

“Wage theft is a real issue in Massachusetts, including in the construction industry where dishonest companies continue to cheat their employees,” AG Healey said. “Our office is working to level the playing field so that workers are paid fairly and contractors who follow the rules are not at a disadvantage.”

Violations in these cases included the failure to pay proper wages, failure to pay overtime, retaliation and failure to furnish records for inspection. For work performed on public construction projects in the state, the violations included the failure to pay the prevailing wage, failure to submit true and accurate certified payroll records, and failure to register and pay apprentices appropriately.

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