Three East Orange construction companies have entered into a consent judgment with the U.S. Department of Labor and will pay $850,000 in back wages and damages to 153 workers to resolve violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.

The department’s Wage and Hour Division investigators found that DKNJ Masonry Corp., Roy Rock LLC and Silver Construction Inc. – all controlled and operated by Rui Pires – violated the FLSA’s overtime and recordkeeping provisions.

Investigators found that the companies and Rui Pires, which all admitted that they jointly employed their workers in each workweek, failed to pay overtime at time-and-a-half when employees worked more than 40 hours. Instead, the employer paid for overtime hours at straight-time rates and failed to keep adequate records of hours worked. The division found DKNJ violated the law by hiding overtime in a separate payroll of another company, Silver Construction. Silver shared the same space, staff and management as DKNJ Masonry/Roy Rock. Investigators determined the second company was used to evade FLSA requirements.