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The DOL has recently cracked down on wage theft in the construction sector. The Office of Administrative Law Judges ordered that <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>subcontractor GSI Pool Finishes<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a> pay back $317,097 in back wages for three U.S. and 56 Mexican workers in April, for example. The employer illegally paid workers piece rates, as opposed to required offered wage rates.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n In fiscal year 2022 the Wage and Hour Division <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>recovered $32,913,795 in back wages<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a> for 17,127 construction workers. DOL announced in February that it would hire 100 <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>more Wage and Hour Division investigators<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMisclassifying employees as independent contractors deprives workers of their full wages, benefits and employment protections, and allows their employers to gain an unfair advantage over law-abiding competitors,\u201d Juan Coria, the WHD regional administrator for Atlanta, said in a statement.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Coria continued underscoring a point that many regional WHD administrators have made: \u201cThe outcome of this case and the costly consequences that R&R Construction Maintenance suffered should serve as an example to other employers to make certain their employment practices comply with federal law,\u201d Coria said<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n