Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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UNION CITY, N.J. -- An administrative law judge at the U.S. Department of Labor has found that contractors involved in the construction of low income housing on 39th Street in Union City violated the National Housing Act of 1990, a Davis-Bacon related act, and has ordered them to pay $261,058 in back wages to 36 workers.

An investigation conducted by the department’s Wage and Hour Division found that from January 2000 to July 2001, the general contractor on the project, DT Allen Contracting Co. Inc. of Oakland, N.J., and its principals, Daniel Allen and Gregory Allen, did not pay three employees the prevailing wage rate for that area, amounting to $93,009 in back wages, and did not ensure that its subcontractors were paying employees the proper rate. The company also failed to pay its employees required overtime, resulting in $576 due in back wages.

DT Allen Contracting, Daniel Allen and Gregory Allen also were found jointly liable for payment of $76,955 in back wages to 20 employees of A. Montesino Electrical Contracting; $49,022 to nine employees of Nucor Construction; and $41,496 to four employees of United Mechanical. The three subcontractors were found liable for payment of back wages to their own employees.

“Employers have a legal responsibility to ensure that workers are being paid the proper wages,” says Joseph Petrecca, director of the Wage and Hour Division’s Northern New Jersey District Office. “This action underscores the Labor Department’s commitment to hold them accountable when they fail to meet it.”

The Davis-Bacon and related acts require that workers on government construction projects be paid no less than the minimum wages determined to be prevailing for corresponding work on similar projects in the area.

The Wage and Hour Division concluded 31,987 compliance actions and recovered more than $171 million in back wages for more than 246,000 employees in fiscal year 2006. Back-wage collections last year represent a 30 percent increase over back wages collected in fiscal year 2001. The number of workers receiving back wages has increased by 14 percent since fiscal year 2001.

For more information about the Davis-Bacon and related acts, call the Department of Labor’s toll-free helpline at (866) 4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information is also available on the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov.

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