Nearly 400 hard working New Yorkers in the construction industry are set to receive unpaid wages totaling over $1.2 million discovered through investigations started on January 1st of this year. Through a partnered effort between the District attorneys of all NYC, Westchester and Nassau Counties, this investigation has resulted in numerous indictments across several jurisdictions with nearly $700,000 already returned to affected workers. Governor Andrew Cuomo’s call for a crackdown in the industry was in response to the widespread reports of worker exploitation.
Many immigrant workers in the construction industry are often taken advantage of by contractors with regard to wage theft or unsafe work environments. A construction company may frequently pay their workers a day rate or weekly salary without any regard to all the hours actually worked. This often denies a worker from being compensated correctly. They are left earning less than the hourly minimum wage and/or kept from receiving overtime pay at time and a half of what their regular hourly rates should be when working over 40 hours in a work week. Some of the affected companies include Whisk, Sky Materials, City Metro, Magnetic Contracting Corp., J&D Painting Contractors, and AVM Construction.
Knowing whether you are being paid in accordance with the law is often not as clear as you’d like. Reaching out to an employment attorney can be helpful in these situations to help you determine if your employer is complying with the proper wage laws. Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP offers a free phone consultation with one of their available attorneys who will help shed some light on your rights as a worker in New York. The firm has had success recovering unpaid wages for construction workers We can be reached at (212) 300-0375 or you may browse our website for additional information regarding your rights.