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The U.S. Department of Labor is ordering a private electrical contractor to pay $1.2 million in back pay to 38 electricians and technicians for work at Marine Corps Base Hawaii because the company failed to pay prevailing wages.
Lighting Services Inc and owner Scott Wilks also are banned from getting federal contracts for three years, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Labor.
The department’s Wage and Hour Division investigators found Lighting Services Inc. submitted falsified payrolls and told workers to provide false information to investigators.
Investigators said the company also required workers to falsify time records, failed to list workers on payroll records and paid rates more than $20 an hour below required wage rates.
The department’s regional solicitor in San Francisco brought charges against Lighting Services and an administrative law judge approved consent findings last month.
“An employer cannot reduce its labor costs by underpaying workers the required wage standards in a federally funded construction contract,” said Terence Trotter, the division’s district director in Hawaii. “Just as standards of quality must be met on completed electrical work, employers must also adhere to federal standards that safeguard the electricians’ pay and working conditions.”
