Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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HOUSTON -- Prime contractor Manhattan Construction Co. has paid $163,782 in back wages and fringe benefits to 44 ironworkers after an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) found that its subcontractor, D’Ambra Construction Inc., had underpaid the workers.

“The Department of Labor is committed to vigorously enforcing the law to ensure that all workers are paid full wages and any overtime they are entitled to receive, including fringe benefits if they apply,” said Cynthia Watson, Wage and Hour regional administrator in Dallas.

The investigation conducted by the Wage and Hour district office in Houston determined that Houston-based Manhattan Construction contracted with D’Ambra Construction, also Houston-based, to provide commercial construction at a transportation unit of the Houston Metropolitan Transit Authority.

The investigation further found that D’Ambra had misclassified the ironworkers under the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts. As a result, the subcontractor was in violation of the prevailing wage provisions of the act and the overtime provisions of the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act.

Manhattan Construction has paid all back wages due.

Davis-Bacon applies to federally-funded and certain federally-assisted construction contracts in the United States. The act requires that every covered construction contract in excess of $2,000 contain a wage determination reflecting wages and fringe benefits prevailing in the locality, and that contractors pay laborers and mechanics no less than that prevailing wage rate. The Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act requires payment of overtime at one-and one-half the hourly wage rate to laborers and mechanics employed on covered contracts.

For more information about these laws or the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), call the Wage and Hour Houston office at (713) 339-5500 or the Department of Labor’s toll free help line at 1-866-4USWAGE (1-866-487-9243). Information is also available on the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov and at www.dol.gov.

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