City of Industry construction firm fined nearly $12 million for wage theft (CA)

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The violations impacted more than 1,000 workers at projects in Los Angeles and Orange counties

By KEVIN SMITH PUBLISHED: February 11, 2019 at 5:11 pm

A City of Industry construction firm has been fined nearly $12 million in what state regulators are calling the biggest wage theft violation ever by a private company in California.

The state Labor Commissioner’s Office announced Monday, Feb. 11 that it cited RDV Construction Inc. for violations that left more than a thousand workers waiting weeks or months to be paid, only to receive a portion of what they were owed.

The company hired crews to provide framing, drywall and other trade work for hotels, apartments and mixed-use buildings around Southern California.

A litany of violations

Investigators determined that between 2014 and 2017, RDV employed more than 1,000 workers at 35 construction sites scattered primarily throughout Los Angeles and Orange counties and typically worked its crews nine hours a day without proper rest breaks or overtime pay.

The company “habitually and illegally” withheld up to 25 percent of the wages workers earned, investigators said, and during a 21-month period, they were paid with checks that bounced due to insufficient funds.
RDV projects have included the Crown Apartments complex in West Hollywood and Boardwalk by Windsor, an upscale apartment community in Huntington Beach, among others.

…

“Dodging labor laws and stealing wages hurts workers and creates unfair conditions for law-abiding employers,” California Labor Secretary Julie A. Su said in a statement. “Stealing earned wages from workers’ pockets is illegal in California and this case shows that employers who steal from their workers will end up paying for it in the end.”

The citations total $11,943,054 payable to workers in unpaid wages and premiums…

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San Jose to consider proposal to help employees receive pay they deserve (CA)

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Construction workers on the Silvery Towers project downtown were held in squalid conditions

By EMILY DERUY
PUBLISHED: January 31, 2019 at 6:00 am

Months after it surfaced that workers on a high rise in downtown San Jose were held in captivity and forced to work without pay, the City Council is expected to consider stronger wage protections to prevent companies from refusing to pay employees what they deserve.

In a memo to the city’s Rules and Open Government Committee, several members of the San Jose City Council – Raul Peralez, Chappie Jones, Magdalena Carrasco and Sergio Jimenez – suggested broadening the city’s current wage theft protections to cover construction workers on both public and private projects. They also said developers proposing construction projects involving more than 5,000 square feet of floor area should have to disclose wage theft violations by their contractors and subcontractors. If companies are found to have unpaid wage theft claims, the council members argued, they should be disqualified until the claims are paid.

In July, the U.S. Labor Department announced that more than a dozen immigrants working on the Silvery Towers project at the corner of N. San Pedro and W. St. James streets were held in squalid conditions in a Hayward house and forced to work on projects across the Bay Area.

The changes, the council members wrote, “will ensure that another Silvery Towers does not occur again and that the city is not blindsided by another atrocity.”

…

Construction workers and labor groups urged the council to make broadening its wage theft policy a priority. However, business groups warned doing so could create demanding new regulations for developers and hamper the city’s aim of adding thousands of new affordable homes in the next few years.

“It is the ethical and quite honestly the honorable thing to do,” said Steve Flores, with the group Santa Clara County Residents for Responsible Development, adding that the update would close “gaping loopholes” that leave construction workers fending for themselves.

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Hunter: Iowans lose $600 million to wage theft each year (IA)

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Rep. Bruce Hunter, House District 34
Published 12:16 p.m. CT Feb. 15, 2019

The news is not good.Currently women in the state of Iowa make 79 cents for every dollar a man makes. We rank 31st in the U.S. when it comes to the gender wage gap, and the statistics are even worse for women who are African American, Latina, Asian American and Native American.

According to a recent study, 266,000 people lose $600 million per year in the state of Iowa due to wage theft issues. Iowa loses approximately $120 million in unpaid sales, income and payroll taxes annually. One in six construction workers is a victim of wage theft.

At the end of 2013, an Iowa Workforce Development misclassification unit found that over 380 employers had misclassified over 5,000 workers by claiming they were independent contractors instead of employees. Because of this over $90 million in wages had not been reported.

Wage theft is almost always connected to misclassification cases due to lost overtime and unpaid wages. In addition, those 5,000 workers lost out on unemployment and workers’ compensation benefits.

I am currently sponsoring a number of bills dealing with wage inequities in Iowa. The first, HF 89, deals with wage disparities between men and women and minorities and nonminorities. HF 24 concerns job misclassifications to avoid paying unemployment and workers’ compensation benefits. I have also introduced a bill, which does not yet have a bill number, which deals with wage theft.

None of these bills will ever receive a subcommittee hearing.

And if some miracle should happen and all of these bills would become law, I’m not sure it would matter.

(See Article)

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Gary homeless project contractors cited for pay violations (IL)

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By Carole Carlson
February 18, 2019

The U.S. Department of Labor ordered four contractors, who built the $9.5 million Village of Hope federal housing project in Gary, to pay workers $255,474 for failing to pay prevailing wages and fringe benefits. 
The labor department announced the ruling last week.

The wage law violations impacted 53 former and current employees, according to a release from the labor department.

“Government contractors receive detailed agreements that include prevailing wage and fringe benefits rates, required to be paid by all contractors working on a federally funded project.

Prime contractors must assure that their subcontractors adhere to these rules as well,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Patricia Lewis, in Indianapolis.The project’s prime contractor TWG Construction LLC, based in Indianapolis – has paid $82,477 to 20 employees.

TWG Construction LLC sub-contracted with a temporary staffing company, which failed to pay cleaning service crews in accordance with federal law.
The labor department’s investigation found temporary employees were misclassified and not paid the required prevailing wage rates.

Also, 8 Aces Construction Inc., Lansing, Ill., has paid $69,022 to 19 employees. Investigators found the company failed to pay finishers, painters and carpenters prevailing wage rate. The employer also failed to pay required fringe benefits to employees.

Due to the repeat and “willful nature” of these violations, the labor department said 8 Aces Construction Inc. and owner Jose “Tony” Ochoa have been declared ineligible to bid on federal contracts for a period of three years. A 2017 investigation found 8 Aces owed back wages totaling $99,313 to 95 employees.

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Massachusetts AG’s Office Aims To Clamp Down On Wage Theft (MA)

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By Arun Rath

February 26, 2019

Massachusetts’ ongoing construction boom has brought with it a problem: wage theft – when workers don’t get things like overtime or sick pay, or when they’re not paid at all – on a massive scale.

Last year, Attorney General Maura Healey’s office brought more than $2.7 million in penalties and restitution against local construction companies. Some of that money is going to the more than 1,000 Massachusetts workers who were victims of wage theft last year.

Javier Hernandez was one of them. He spent six months working construction on a new hotel in Porter Square. But he said that every time it was pay day, “They always say, ‘Next week. Next week. Next week.'”
It was the same story when the holidays came.

“I spent Christmas with no money,” Hernandez said. “I have a kid. 10 years old. So, I couldn’t buy a present for him. Because I’m still waiting for the money. And, and that’s so sad.”

Hernandez’ story is a familiar one to Gladys Vega of the Chelsea Collaborative – a Latino-led social services organization that assists a lot of immigrants and refugees. Vega said immigrants are often targets of unscrupulous employers.

“We probably get 10 to 15 people a week with individual cases of not getting paid, of wage theft,” Vega said. “So, I mean, it’s huge.”

In Hernandez’ case, the collaborative was able to work with partners like the local Carpenter’s Union to get the company to pay up. But when the companies don’t cooperate, it’s the job of law enforcement. And Healey has had a busy year busting wage thieves.”We went after a local construction company that wasn’t paying its workers overtime or hourly wages or the prevailing wage that they were supposed to be paying them doing public construction projects,” Healey said. “We cited them over half a million dollars.”

The AG’s office issued citations to 66 construction companies working in the state last year. Those companies face a combined $1.23 million in fines, in addition to providing back pay to more than 1,000 workers.

Healey said many of the investigations are prompted by tips from workers. But a lot of workers are immigrants or undocumented and are afraid to complain.

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Testimony at MN Capitol underscores need for stronger wage theft laws (MN)

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By Howard Kling, Workday Minnesota – February 12, 2019

MINNEAPOLIS/SAINT PAUL – Workers and business owners highlighted the need for stronger wage theft laws during a press conference and legislative hearing at the Minnesota Capitol on February 6. The hearing before the Minnesota House Labor Committee was the first stop for HF6, a bipartisan bill that would set rules and penalties for employers who avoid paying, or fail to pay, wages earned by their employees.

“I am here today to demand an end to this practice of wage theft,” said Humberto Miceli, a member of Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en la Lucha (CTUL). With the help of CTUL, Miceli was able to recover wages stolen by an employer, but in the end he received only 10% of what he was owed. “It is real people who suffer the consequences the way things are right now,” added Miceli.

…

Based on complaints filed with the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (MNDLI), an estimated 39,000 Minnesota workers are not paid what is owed to them in earned wages each year. In 2015, the last year data was compiled, the Department recovered $1.3 million in back wages for Minnesota workers. MNDLI, as well as labor and community organizations, maintain the scope of the problem is much larger since most workers don’t report wage theft violations, many out of fear of retaliation from their employer.

“There are no repercussions for some of the worst offenses that we see in the construction industry and I am here today hoping legislators support HF6,” said Arturo Hernandez, a journeyman carpenter with Carpenters Local 68. “If I stole money from my boss at work, I would go to prison.”

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City Looks to Pay Off Undocumented Workers Cheated by Contractors (NY)

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BY JEANINE RAMIREZ 
PUBLISHED 8:14 AM ET JAN. 25, 2019

An asbestos abatement contractor using a Cropsey Avenue address in Brooklyn is one of more than 50 companies banned from doing city-funded work for allegedly underpaying workers.

“The reason these workers are cheated is because there is a feeling with some of these contractors that you can get away with that because the workers are immigrants or they may appear vulnerable,” City Comptroller Scott Stringer said.

Most of the companies did construction work or provided building services under city contracts.

Comptroller Scott Stringer says his office already has recovered $12 million from the companies for 1,500 people who suffered wage theft.

But Stringer says he’s recovered an additional $2.5 million that still must be distributed.Stringer added, “We want to locate the other 1,500 workers who were scammed and lost their wages. They’re out there. They’re out there in our boroughs. They could be around the corner.”

Many of the workers cheated by city contractors are immigrants. Stringer’s office cited the case of one man who eventually left the city and returned to Ecuador, where he was contacted and provided with his back pay.

“We had great news for him, we had the opportunity to send him a lot of checks with a significant amount of money that he received in Ecuador,” said Linda Machuca, Consul General of Ecuador in NY.

The cheated workers receive back pay plus interest, regardless of their immigration status. Immigrant rights groups and consulates are working with the city to locate some of those owed money. Officials say undocumented immigrants who receive wage awards will not be reported to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

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Bill aimed at “wage and benefit theft” has public hearing (WA)

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SARA GENTZLER   FEBRUARY 4, 2019

The House Labor & Workplace Standards Committee last week heard testimony on a bill that would add the ways workers in Washington’s construction industry can take action if they don’t get paid.

The bill is meant to address “wage and benefit theft,” which can arise in home remodels and construction projects where a general contractor hires subcontractors, who hire workers. The “theft” occurs when a worker doesn’t get paid by the subcontractor who hired them.

The committee heard public testimony on the bill last week.

Evelyn Shapiro, principal officer for the Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters, talked in her testimony about workers who have been threatened at gunpoint after asking for wages and sent to Immigration and Customs Enforcement after completing a job.

The impact of unpaid wages can also ripple out, Shapiro explained after the hearing, leading to “billions of dollars in unrecovered taxes and premiums” and creating a difficult environment for contractors who play by the rules.

“The contractors who follow the law have no ability to build on an even playing field when they are underbid constantly by other contractors who are underbidding them by as much as 30 percent,” Shapiro said. “We feel that not only does it hurt workers, it hurts our infrastructure, it hurts our social systems.”

If workers aren’t paid by the subcontractors who hire them, they currently have two options for trying to recover their missing wages. They can:

  • Go through Washington’s Department of Labor and Industries, which investigates the claim and can order the employer to pay, then collect wages plus interest; or
  • Take the case to civil court.

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Gov. Pritzker Strengthens Working Families with Actions for Higher Wages and Protections on First Full Day in Office (IL)

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Standing with Working Families, Gov. Pritzker Takes Critical First Steps, Including Women’s Pay Equity, Prosecuting Wage Theft, Using Project Labor Agreements, Requiring Prevailing Wage and Promoting Diversity in State Contracts and Moving Employees to Appropriate Steps

Tuesday, January 15, 2019 – Office of the Governor

Springfield, Ill. – Standing with working families on his first full day in office, Governor JB Pritzker took important first steps to raise Illinoisans’ wages by signing a robust initial package of legislation and executive orders designed to raise and protect their wages.

“This administration is putting Springfield back on the side of working families and these measures are a critical first step in the work that will define my administration, especially as we move toward raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “On the first day of a new administration, we’re enshrining our state’s values to create real and lasting opportunity for the middle class.

“For hardworking people across Illinois, know that your state government has your back. Whether it’s pay equity for women, prosecuting employers who engage in wage theft, instituting prevailing wage requirements, using project labor agreements, restoring state employees’ steps, or promoting diversity in state contracts, these steps are the first of many to take bold action to support working families. This work is far from done, and I look forward to continuing to work with the General Assembly to advance core priorities so working families across Illinois can thrive.”

Today, Governor Pritzker signed Executive Order 2019-02, which will:

* Require that the Department of Central Management Services and the Department of Human Rights shall review the state’s pay plan to eliminate bias generated by asking employees for salary history, which often disadvantages women, particularly women of color. The State of Illinois will no longer ask prospective employees questions about salary history, because of historic salary disadvantages women face.

* Help protect workers from wage theft. The order directs the Illinois Department of Labor to expeditiously handle all cases of wage theft and day labor exploitation, including referring appropriate cases to the Attorney General. This will allow the administration to hold bad actors accountable and protect workers.

* Require that all state agencies comply with the Project Labor Agreements Act.

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(PDF Copy of Executive Order)

Miami-Dade County helps victims of wage theft (FL)

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By Layron Livingston – Reporter
Posted: 6:28 PM, January 22, 2019

MIAMI – You got the job. You did the work. But what do you do when you don’t get paid?

Wage theft is a real issue impacting workers in a wide array of industries, from restaurants and retail to construction and the corporate world.

“I think you have a lot of employees who are being promised payments, and sometimes, that promise may be fulfilled, but in many times, it’s not,” Bryant Acevedo said.

Acevedo is a public information officer with the Miami-Dade County Office of Consumer Protection.

“Do you try to sue? What do you do? I think there are a lot of people who don’t even know where to start,” he said.

Acevedo said the consumer protection office’s Wage Theft Program helps workers investigate and recover unpaid wages for free.

The office was able to successfully conciliate $361,742 worth of unpaid wages in 2017.
“Wage theft is where you have an employee who is simply not being paid [or] compensated for their work,” Acevedo said.

Types of complaints handled by the Office of Consumer Protection Wage Theft Program include:

Unpaid wages
Underpaid wages
Fewer hours than worked
Work completed after notice of separation
Work completed during pay period of termination
Rate lower than agreed upon
Unpaid vacation/sick time
Unpaid commissions
Bounced paychecks
Promised payments

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