Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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NEW ORLEANS -- The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the filing of an administrative lawsuit against LJC Defense Contracting Inc. of Dothan, Ala., to collect back wages due workers for violations of the Davis Bacon Act (DBA) and the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act (CWHSSA). The violations occurred when the company’s subcontractor, Elite Labor Solutions of Pensacola, Fla., failed to pay $116,826 in DBA prevailing and CWHSSA overtime wages to 71 workers who placed tarps over damaged roofs in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

The order and reference against LJC Defense Contracting was filed before the Department of Labor’s Office of Administrative Law Judges. The case results from an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division office in San Antonio, which found that Elite Labor Solutions failed to pay the prevailing wage rate of $8.01 an hour to laborers employed to work in New Orleans under the DBA-covered contract.

“Under the government contract statutes, the prime contractor, LJC Defense Contracting Inc., is responsible for the labor standards violations of its subcontractors,” said Cynthia Watson, Wage and Hour Division regional administrator in the Southwest. “LJC Defense Contracting was asked to pay the back wages and refused. Elite Labor Solutions, which employed workers from South Texas, has been debarred. The Labor Department is now seeking back wages for the workers from the prime contractor.”

Under the DBA, contractors and subcontractors performing on contracts in excess of $2,000 must pay their workers no less than the wages and fringe benefits prevailing in a locality. The CWHSSA requires the payment of time and one-half the basic rate of pay for all hours worked more than 40 in a workweek. Contractors must ensure that their subcontractors are fully informed of requirements under federal government contract labor laws. Contractors that fail to properly compensate their workers are subject to federal withholding contract clauses that allow the government to withhold contract payments until all workers are paid the prevailing wages and fringe benefits.

This investigation is one of many compliance actions conducted by the Wage and Hour Division in the Gulf Coast region to ensure that workers involved in hurricane-related activities are properly compensated.

For information about federal government contract laws, call the U.S. Department of Labor’s toll-free help line at (866) 4US-WAGE (487-9243) or contact the Wage and Hour Division’s district office in San Antonio at (210) 308-4515. Information is also available on the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov.

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