Subcontractors at Eugene Apartment Complex Pay $123,832 to Employees After U.S. Department of Labor Finds Overtime, Prevailing Wage Violations

PORTLAND, OR – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), two subcontractors – ODP Systems and Timber Tech Framing – working on an apartment complex in Eugene, Oregon, will pay a collective $123,832 to 38 employees after investigators found numerous prevailing wage, overtime and illegal deductions violations,

Investigators determined that ODP Systems violated the Davis Bacon Act (DBA) when it failed to pay required prevailing wage rates to plasterers working on an apartment construction project funded by a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development multi-family insured loan. ODP Systems paid plasterers the rate applicable to general laborers, which was less than the rate required for the work they were actually performing. Essex General Construction Inc., the prime contractor for the construction job, paid employees $86,826 in back wages and fringe benefits owed by ODP Systems for the DBA wage violations. On DBA-covered work, prime contractors can be held liable for wage violations committed by their subcontractors.

ODP Systems also paid four employees $5,895 in back wages for minimum wage and overtime violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The company failed to pay some employees for time they spent traveling back to their home communities after working at out-of-town locations, and failed to total the number of hours employees worked at different projects during the same workweek when determining if overtime was due.

Finally, both ODP Systems and Timber Tech Framing violated the Copeland Act by unlawfully charging employees for motel costs. The companies required employees to pay for all motel charges or to reimburse the employer in cash for lodging expenses. The two companies will reimburse 38 employees $48,067 for those violations.

“The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division is committed to ensuring that workers receive their hard-earned wages, especially during these unprecedented times,” said Wage and Hour District Director Thomas Silva in Portland, Oregon. “The results of these investigations send a strong message that the Wage and Hour Division will continue to actively protect workers’ rights and level the playing field for employers. We encourage employers to reach out to us and to use the many tools we provide to help them understand their responsibilities.”

The Department offers numerous resources to ensure employers have the tools they need to understand their responsibilities and to comply with federal law, such as online videos and confidential calls to local WHD offices.

 For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the Wage and Hour Division, contact the toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Employers that discover overtime or minimum wage violations may self-report and resolve those violations without litigation through the PAID program. Information is also available at https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd.

WHD’s mission is to promote and achieve compliance with labor standards to protect and enhance the welfare of the nation’s workforce. WHD enforces federal minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping and child labor requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act. WHD also enforces the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act, the Employee Polygraph Protection Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, wage garnishment provisions of the Consumer Credit Protection Act and a number of employment standards and worker protections as provided in several immigration related statutes. Additionally, WHD administers and enforces the prevailing wage requirements of the Davis Bacon Act and the Service Contract Act and other statutes applicable to federal contracts for construction and for the provision of goods and services.

The mission of the Department of Labor is to foster, promote and develop the welfare of the wage earners, job seekers and retirees of the United States; improve working conditions; advance opportunities for profitable employment; and assure work-related benefits and rights.

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