GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The prime contractor for the new construction of the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans has paid back wages and benefits to 18 workers who had been shortchanged.
A US Department of Labor investigation found Grand Rapids-based Staffing Solutions – a subcontractor on the veterans project – had certified that it paid 18 carpenters $18.14 in wages and $4.59 in fringe benefits per hour.
However, their employer had actually paid them less per hour and failed to pay for, or provide, fringe benefits.
Federal law requires contractors and subcontractors on federally funded construction projects to pay prevailing wage rates and benefits to all laborers on site.
Staffing Solutions hired and paid the workers as laborers when most of them performed carpentry work on the job site.
Instead of paying the $18.14 per hour prevailing wage rate for carpentry work, the subcontractor paid most of the workers between $15 and $18 an hour.
At the end of the investigation, the Christman Company, the project’s prime contractor, paid the 18 subcontracted carpenters $26,671 in back wages and benefits.
“Enforcement of the prevailing wage laws levels the playing field for all contractors and protects the wages of hard-working, middle-class American workers,” Wage and Hour Division District Director Mary O’Rourke in Grand Rapids said.
“The Wage and Hour Division will remain vigilant in its enforcement to ensure employees are paid in accordance with prevailing wage laws. Contractors with questions about their responsibilities are encouraged to call us, confidentially, for help.”
Contractors and subcontractors on federally funded construction projects are required to pay covered workers weekly and submit weekly certified payroll records to the contracting agency. They are also required to post the Davis-Bacon poster (WH-1321) on the job site.
If you think you may be owed back wages, click here.
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