US Department of Labor finds Miami electrical subcontractor underpaid eight workers $37K in pay, benefits

MIAMI – A Miami electrical and engineer contractor shortchanged eight workers by denying them a portion of their wages and benefits while they worked on a federally funded project at the Everglades National Park Flamingo Visitor Center in Homestead, a U.S. Department of Labor investigation found.

Following a review of company pay records, investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division found WDR Technology Corp. paid most of their employees as ironworkers, a practice that denied workers a higher rate of pay per hour, and health and welfare benefits required for electrical work. The subcontractor’s failures violated the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts, which governs pay practices of construction contractors and subcontractors working on federally funded or assisted contracts.

Division investigators also found that WDR’s certified payrolls showed wages issued on a weekly basis. In reality, investigators determined the employer paid workers bi-weekly, in violation of the DBRA. WDR also failed to maintain a record of the regular hourly rate of pay for any workweek, a Fair Labor Standards Act violations.

The division recovered $37,411 in back wages for eight workers.

“The Davis-Bacon and Related Acts govern wages on contracts paid with taxpayer dollars,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Richard Blaylock in Raleigh, North Carolina. “Federal contractors and subcontractors must pay workers employed on federally funded worksites wages and fringe benefits they legally earned for the work performed.”

Lunacon Engineering Group Corp. subcontracted WDR Technology Corp. to perform electrical work.

Workers who feel they may not be getting the wages they earned may contact a Wage and Hour Division representative in their state through a list and interactive online map on the agency’s website. The division also offers numerous online resources for employers, such as a fact sheet on the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts.  Employers and workers can get their questions answered by contacting the Wage and Hour Division at its toll-free number, 1-866-4-US-WAGE. Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division.