A Waipahu-based company has settled a federal labor violation claim involving $1.1 million in contract worker wages and fringe benefits related to maintaining a federal building in New York.
The U.S. Department of Labor announced Monday that Dellew Corp. agreed to correct the underpayments and retain an independent monitor to ensure future compliance with a federal labor law pertaining to prime government contracts.
Dellew’s work spanned several years of maintenance services for a building occupied by the Social Security Administration in Queens, N.Y., under a contract worth $3.4 million in its final year, according to the Labor Department.
The department said Dellew owed $47,705 to 14 contract workers and $1.1 million in health and welfare benefit payments to a New York-based union representing engineers and mechanics under provisions of the McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act. This law requires that pay and benefits are no less than what prevails in an area.
According to the department, Dellew made $366,377 in corrective payments while an investigation was ongoing, and the department recovered another $783,616 that had been withheld by the Social Security Administration under Dellew’s service contract for the Joseph P. Addabbo Federal Building.
Also as part of the settlement, Dellew agreed to five years of enhanced compliance overseen by an independent monitor.
“The U.S. Department of Labor is committed to ensuring employees are paid the wages they have rightfully earned and federal contractors comply with the law,” Jeffrey Rogoff, solicitor of labor for the New York region, said in a statement.
Employers and employees are encouraged to understand requirements of federal labor laws that apply to their work.
The Labor Department operates a toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE and has more information, including how to file complaints online, at dol.gov/agencies/whd.
