Nearly $339,000 in back wages has been recovered for 27 workers employed as
electrical mechanics by Sant-Tec Electric Inc., a company incorporated
in both New York and New Jersey.
An investigation by the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division
revealed that the company and its officials had violated wage and
benefit requirements of the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts and the
Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act on three federally-funded
housing construction projects in New York City.
In addition to paying the back wages, Sant-Tec Electric, President
Manuel Montesino and Human Resources Manager Olga Pena will be debarred
from working on future federally-funded contracts for a period of
three years.
"Workers employed on federally-funded projects must be paid proper
wages and fringe benefits," said Maria Rosado, the New York district
director for the Wage and Hour Division. "Contractors and
subcontractors working on such projects should know that the Labor
Department will pursue them if they don’t pay their employees properly
under the law."
The investigation by the Wage and Hour Division’s New York City
District Office determined that Sant-Tec failed to pay the prevailing
wage rates and fringe benefits to some of its employees, failed to pay
some of its employees for all hours worked, failed to pay its employees
overtime for hours worked over 40 in a week and submitted certified
payroll records that did not accurately reflect all the hours worked by
employees on the project.
Sant-Tec was a subcontractor to Lettire Construction Corp., which
itself was a subcontractor on three contracts awarded by the New York
City Department of Housing Preservation and Development for the
following housing projects: The Claremont Project, 1421 College Ave.,
Bronx, N.Y. — prime contractor Claremont Park Associates LP; Fortune
Society Project, W. 140 St., New York, N.Y. — prime contractor 625 W.
140 St. LP c/o Fortune W. 140 St. GP Inc.; and the Metro North Project,
306-324 E. 100 St., New York, N.Y. — prime contractor Hobbs Ciena
Associates LP and Hobbs Ciena Housing Development Fund Corp.
The Metro North Project was funded in part by the American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act. The first two projects were subject to the
Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act of 1994. This law
incorporates the provisions of the Davis-Bacon Act, which requires the
payment of prevailing wages and benefits to laborers and mechanics
employed on federal and certain federally-funded projects. The
Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act, covering all three
projects, requires contractors and subcontractors to pay laborers and
mechanics on the projects one and one-half times their basic rate of
pay for all hours worked over 40 in a week.