Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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NEW YORK -- The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered more than $200,000 in back wages for 39 employees of four companies that had been contracted by the U.S. Army to do renovations on buildings at its Fort Hamilton base in Brooklyn, N.Y.

The Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division district office in New York City investigated allegations that prime contractor Ortega General Contracting Inc. (Ortega) and its subcontractors, AB Contracting Inc., AMSCO Air Conditioning and Heating Corp., and Rose Electrical Contractors Inc., had failed to pay construction laborers, electricians, carpenters and plumbers proper prevailing wage rates in violation of the Davis-Bacon Act (DBA).

“Our investigation found that 39 employees were due a total of more than $200,000 in back wages,” said District Director Philip Jacobson.

Since federal contracting agencies are required to retain a certain percentage of the contract payments until all provisions of the contract have been fulfilled, the Wage and Hour Division asked the Army to withhold payments due Ortega, the prime contractor, in an amount that was sufficient to address the alleged back wage violations. Once the Army took that action, Ortega’s contract rights and duties were taken over by a bonding company, the Greenwich Insurance Co., which contested the action.

Negotiations to resolve the matter, involving the Wage and Hour Division, the Labor Department’s Regional Solicitor’s Office and Greenwich Insurance, resulted in a settlement agreement approved by the department’s Office of Administrative Law Judges, which provides for the 39 workers to receive a total of $200,231 in back wages.

The DBA requires 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 Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division concluded 30,467 compliance actions and recovered a record $220 million in back wages for more than 341,000 employees in fiscal year 2007. Back-wage collections in fiscal year 2007 represent a 67 percent increase over back wages collected in fiscal year 2001. The number of workers receiving back wages has increased by 58 percent since fiscal year 2001.

For more information about the DBA and other federal labor laws administered by the Wage and Hour Division, call the Department of Labor’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information is also available at www.wagehour.dol.gov.

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