US Department of Labor recovers $34K in back wages, benefits for 9 workers misclassified by subcontractor on federal project in District of Columbia

Employer name:       Day-Debut Mechanical Inc.

Employer address:    22421 Goshen School Road, Gaithersburg, MD 20882

Investigation findings: An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division determined that Day-Debut Mechanical Inc., a federal subcontractor on the Paxton Apartments construction project in the District of Columbia, misclassified nine sheet metal workers and insulators as laborers. By doing so, the employer did not pay them the proper prevailing wages and fringe benefits in violation of the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts. The division also determined Day-Debut had incomplete payroll records, submitted falsified payrolls and failed to provide required records, all violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Another subcontractor on the project, Titan Mechanical Inc. of Manassas Park, Virginia, paid the owed back wages and fringe benefits after Day-Debut Mechanical was unreachable after the division’s investigation. Titan had hired Day-Debut Mechanical to complete work on the project, an affordable housing development slated for completion in spring 2024 with funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Recoveries: $20,921 to back wages and $13,221 in fringe benefits for nine employees.

Quote: “Contractors on projects supported by federal funds must classify workers correctly and pay them their full wages and benefits or face costly consequences for not complying with the law,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director John DuMont in Pittsburgh.

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. Workers and employers can call the division confidentially with questions or concerns – regardless of where they are from – and the division can speak with callers in more than 200 languages. Help ensure hours worked and pay are accurate by downloading the department’s Android and iOS Timesheet App for free in English or Spanish.