Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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SAN FRANCISCO -- As a result of a settlement reached between the U.S. Department of Labor and Sinco Construction Corp., construction workers who did framing work on the HUD-funded Tempe Grove Apartments project in Tempe, Ariz. are sharing $435,000 in back wages. The Labor Department's suit alleged that the company violated federal wage and hour laws, including not paying the required prevailing wage rate, not paying overtime and falsifying payroll records.

"Our job at the Labor Department is protect workers' rights and their wages, even if that means taking action in court," said Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. "The company violated the law and it was our duty to recover wages earned by these workers, regardless of their immigration status."

An investigation by the department's Wage and Hour Division found that Sinco Construction Corp., operated by Frank Robert Singh, paid carpenters and framers by "piece rate," which did not meet the prevailing wage required Davis-Bacon Act (DBA), which sets the prevailing wage rate at $16.67 an hour. In addition, these workers were not paid overtime wages for hours worked after 40 in a week, as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Furthermore, the company falsified payroll records to make it appear that the required rates and overtime were paid.

Back wages were computed in the amount of $390,406 for the DBA prevailing wage violations for 219 employees and $44,593 for 246 employees for the FLSA overtime violations.

"In this case, the employer falsified certified payroll records to hide their failure to pay their workers properly," said Tammy D. McCutchen, administrator of the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division.

The consent judgment issued by the court settles an administrative action filed by the Labor Department to collect the DBA back wages and the FLSA overtime lawsuit. As part of the settlement, the company and Frank Robert Singh agreed to comply with the FLSA in the future and to be debarred from federally funded construction work for three years.

The DBA requires employers on federally funded or assisted construction contracts to pay wages determined by the department to be prevailing in the locality of the work. The FLSA requires covered employers to pay employees time and one-half their regular rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of 40 hours in a week.

For more information about the DBA and the FLSA, call the Phoenix Wage and Hour office at 602-640-2990 or the Department of Labor's toll-free helpline at 1-866-4USWAGE (1-866-487-9243). Information is also available on the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov.

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