Suffolk County DA: Businesses cheated workers, state (NY)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Wage and benefit fund theft, wage violations, and fraud in unemployment insurance & workers comp were among alleged crimes, prosecutors say.

Michael DeSantis
March 9, 2020

SUFFOLK COUNTY, NY – Eight people and nine businesses have been charged in a labor-related crackdown in Suffolk County.

The crimes collectively saw the theft of more than $250,000 in employees’ wages and benefits, nonpayment of more than $58,000 to the Department of Labor for unemployment insurance fund contributions, and failure to pay more than $133,000 to the state’s insurance fund for workers’ compensation insurance premiums, prosecutors said. Two defendants also illegally dumped polluted water into a public storm water drain, prosecutors said.

“Here in Suffolk County, we will not tolerate the exploitation of workers or our taxpayers by greedy corporations and business owners,” Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy D. Sini said in a news release. “That is why my Office, along with our partners, is aggressively identifying and prosecuting bad actors in the business community and holding them accountable. Indeed, not only will our efforts protect workers and taxpayers, they will also prevent these bad businesses from gaining an unfair competitive advantage against legitimate, law-abiding businesses.” …

“The Governor and the Department of Labor take the responsibility of enforcing labor and worker protections very seriously,” Roberta Reardon, New York State Department of Labor commissioner, said. “We have zero tolerance for those businesses who seek to defraud the system. Businesses who don’t play by the rules will be held accountable. We are fortunate to have law enforcement partners like the Suffolk County DA’s office to help us reinforce those protections.”

The investigations are ongoing. Sini urges anyone who worked for one of the companies and was underpaid or deprived of his or her wages to contact the Labor Crime Unit at 631-853-4232 or via email to InfoDA@SuffolkCountyNY.gov.

(Read More)

unnamed

Construction ‘Coyotes’ costing Utah taxpayers millions (UT)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

NOVEMBER 18, 2019
BY ADAM HERBETS

SALT LAKE CITY – It’s an illegal business practice that most people in the construction industry consider an open secret: “coyotes” smuggling people into the workforce.

It’s a problem one state senator describes as a “robbery” of our tax dollars on some of the biggest construction sites across Utah.

FOX 13 News has discovered hundreds of employees are being paid in cash under the table on a weekly basis instead of paying taxes.

Patrick Bieker, the lead union representative with the Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters in Utah, has been fighting for stricter regulations against anyone who encourages employees to work for cash.

“We refer to them as ‘coyotes,’ or labor brokers,” Bieker said. “They typically use fear to keep their workforce in line.”

According to the Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters, the manpower on most job sites does not come from the general contractor – or even the subcontractors. Instead, they say it comes from coyotes who help the subcontractors limit the amount of fees they pay per employee.

“They don’t pay the workers comp, the unemployment insurance, state and federal taxes. You know, any of the burden that a responsible contractor pays,” Bieker said. “It’s just a constant race to the bottom. Let’s make sure everybody’s getting screwed!”

Workers turn on their coyote… and blame the subcontractors who led them there
Since he learned of the problem, Bieker has hired a number of anonymous informants who work on large job sites across the state. They take pictures of their payments every week, typically large sums of cash handed to them in an envelope inside small office buildings across Salt Lake City.

One of the workers told FOX 13 he has been a legal resident in the United States since 1999. He said he has a green card, but when he tried to get a job with a local subcontractor, the company told him to call a man named Sergio Coronado instead.

“The first payment, envelope, cash. It was like three months, two months and a half I think,” the worker said. “I wanted to pay my taxes, you know?”

(Read More)

WI DWD Holds Worker Misclassification Roundtable (WI)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

05/14/19
WorkersCompensation.com

Waukesha, WI – The Department of Workforce Development (DWD), in collaboration with State Council of Carpenters and Painting and Allied Trades, held a Worker Misclassification Roundtable in Waukesha yesterday to gather information and input on the issue of Worker Misclassification in Wisconsin. The roundtable was hosted by Building Services Incorporated.

“Under Governor Evers, the rights of workers are first and foremost, and by ensuring that employees are properly classified, we are providing workers with the confidence that in the event of a separation or workplace issue, they will have proper supports in place,” DWD Secretary Caleb Frostman said. “The input of our employer partners and other stakeholders on this issue is absolutely vital as we move forward with implementing Governor Evers’ Joint Taskforce to combat Worker Misclassification and Payroll fraud.”

Last year alone, UI Division auditors conducted 2,459 audits, identifying 8,677 misclassified workers and recouping more than $1.5 million in Unemployment Insurance (UI) taxes, interest and penalties due to their efforts. The issue isn’t isolated to the UI program alone. Misclassified workers are often times denied access to worker’s compensation and various labor and civil rights protections. Employers who misclassify workers obtain a competitive advantage over their peers. Without action on this important issue, Wisconsin stands to lose tax revenue, employers who play by the rules lose work, and workers suffer.

Under Wisconsin law, workers are presumed to be employees and subject to tax unless determined by law to be independent contractors. An employer found to be utilizing misclassified workers may be liable for additional tax, interest and penalties. Employers engaged in the construction trades may also be subject to a stop work order. In addition, employers engaged in the painting or drywall finishing of buildings or other structures who willfully provide false information to DWD for the purpose of misclassifying or attempting to misclassify a worker as an independent contractor can be fined $25,000 for each violation.

(Read More)

Milwaukee Building and Construction Trades Council Statement on Gov. Evers’ signing Executive Order to Protect Wisconsin Workers (WI)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

“Standing with working families, Governor Tony Evers’ took a huge step to protect Wisconsin from corrupt employers who cut costs by scamming workers and the state of Wisconsin.”

By Milwaukee Building and Construction Trades Council
Apr 15th, 2019 02:39 pm

MILWAUKEE – Milwaukee Building and Construction Trades Council Statement President Dan Bukiewicz released the following statement in response to Gov. Evers’ signing Executive Order #20 to Protect Wisconsin Workers:

“Standing with working families, Governor Tony Evers’ took a huge step to protect Wisconsin from corrupt employers who cut costs by scamming workers and the state of Wisconsin. It’s refreshing to have a governor not only focused on what is best for workers and Wisconsin’s future. I applaud Governor Evers for taking immediate action to protect the middle class,” said Milwaukee Building and Construction Trades Council Statement President Dan Bukiewicz.

“Contracted work is an often-overlooked driver of eroding labor standards, rising income and wealth inequality, persistent structural racism and occupational segregation, and the shifting of power away from workers and toward corporations.

Many industries in which people of color are over represented are characterized by the widespread use of independent contractors. These contracted jobs offer no unemployment insurance protections or even a minimum wage,”added Bukiewicz.

(See Article)

(See PDF Copy of Executive Order)

DA holds labor law conference

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

By: Adina Genn
March 23, 2018

Labor leaders, elected officials and representatives from county, state and federal agencies gathered this week for a labor law conference at The Morrelly Center in Bethpage, hosted by Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas.

The conference, the district attorney’s second, aimed to share information and discuss trends toward protecting employees and taxpayers.

“When unscrupulous employers cheat in one aspect, they often cheat in everything,” Singas said in a statement. “It starts with stealing hard earned wages from their employees, and then evolves into submitting false payroll records, false tax returns and cheating the unemployment insurance system.”

In 2017, the Nassau DA began working with district attorney offices in New York City and Westchester, along with the state Attorney General’s office and the U.S. Department of Labor to launch a wage-theft investigation within the construction industry. This year the Nassau DA’s wage theft saw 30 cases related to undocumented workers who aren’t being paid, up from two last year. And at an event that the DA’s office organized with Univision generated new cases.

Attendees at the 2018 conference included Nassau County Executive Laura Curran, Westchester County District Attorney Anthony Scarpino and Putnam County District Attorney Robert Tendy as well as representatives from the Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office; Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s office; the New York State Labor Department; Occupational Safety and Health Administration; Queens County District Attorney’s Office; the Law Office of Archer, Byington, Glennon & Levine; and Maryhaven Center of Hope.

(Read More)

Massachusetts Senate passes wage theft bill

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

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.

(Read More)