U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR INVESTIGATIONS FIND FEDERAL CONTRACTORS OWE $255,474 TO EMPLOYEES WORKING ON INDIANA HOUSING PROJECT (IN)

One Contractor Debarred as a Result of Investigation

Agency: Wage and Hour Division
Date: February 14, 2019
Release Number: 19-56-CHI

GARY, IN – After a U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division investigation, four contractors working on the federal Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Village of Hope housing project in Gary, Indiana, will pay 53 current and former employees a total of $255,474 for violating the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts (DBRA).

WHD investigators determined the contractors failed to pay the correct prevailing wages and fringe benefits.

The project’s prime contractor TWG Construction LLC – based in Indianapolis, Indiana – has paid $82,477 to 20 employees. TWG Construction LLC sub-contracted with a temporary staffing company that failed to pay cleaning service crews in accordance with DBRA requirements. The temporary employees were misclassified and not paid the required prevailing wage rates.

“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. “Violations can easily be avoided, and we encourage all employers to come to us for confidential assistance to understand their responsibilities under the law.”

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