The US Department of Labor has recovered $877K in wages and benefits for employees of New York City federal contractors.
Discover Electric Inc., EMG Industrial Chimney Inc., and QNCC Electrical Contracting Corp. were embroiled in an investigation into employees who were underpaid for their work on two New York construction projects.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development funded these projects. The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, along with the Department of Labor and the Wage and Hour Division, achieved the result for the thirty-six employees who were left out of pocket.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Regional Administrator Alicka Ampry-Samuel said, “HUD works closely with federal, state, and local agencies to ensure that companies receiving federal funds comply with Davis-Bacon wage requirements. Everyone deserves to be paid fairly. At a time when we face a housing shortage, it’s crucial to support workers who are helping to expand the supply of affordable housing.”
Three companies to pay back out-of-pocket employees
Most importantly, the Wage and Hour Division investigation found that Discover Electric Inc., EMG Industrial Chimney Inc., and QNCC Electrical Contracting Corp. violated the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts (DBRA).
Discover Electric Inc., a Rockville Centre electrical contractor, improperly classified 11 employees as jobbers, maintenance, and repair workers rather than electricians.
The company believed it could get away with paying these skilled workers less than the required prevailing wages and benefits for their roles. Discover Electric Inc. has been instructed to pay the impacted employees $43,984 in wages and $550,321 in fringe benefits.
EMG Industrial Chimney Inc., a West Babylon construction contractor, failed to pay “$69,252 in required prevailing wages and fringe benefits to 21 employees miscategorized as service fitters rather than for their work as insulators and sheet metal workers,” said the report.
QNCC Electrical Contracting Corp., a Port Washington contractor, improperly reimbursed four apprentices and did not pay them the correct wage and benefits. The Wage and Hour Division recovered $214,277 in fringe benefits, which will be paid back to the apprentices.
“The Wage and Hour Division works closely with agencies such as the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development to enforce the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts and ensure that workers are paid full wages and benefits,” explained Wage and Hour Division District Director Jorge Alvarez in New York.
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