State attorney general reaches deal with contractor over underpaid labor

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A contractor who constructed affordable housing units, caught underpaying labor, has agreed to back payments and penalties.

New York State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced a settlement with J.A.M. Construction Corp., a subcontractor that was responsible for carpentry work at an affordable housing project in Manhattan. The subcontractor had failed to pay the required prevailing wages to eight workers at the Selis Manor Affordable Housing complex located at 135 W. 23rd St. in Chelsea. The housing project’s construction was under a New York City’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development program.

JAM is a subcontractor based in Rockville Centre, N.Y.

Between December 2014 and August 2015, JAM paid less than the required prevailing wage for carpentry work at Selis Manor and failed to pay the supplemental benefits required by the law. According to the attorney general’s office, in an Assurance of Discontinuance with the Attorney General’s Office, JAM agreed to pay more than $80,000 in underpayments and a penalty of $10,000.

“We will not allow employers to get away with ripping off their workers,” said Schneiderman in a statement. “We will remain vigilant in protecting the rights of New York’s working men and women, and will continue to use monitors where appropriate to ensure ongoing compliance with the law.”

Schneiderman’s office learned of JAM’s violations through an independent monitor imposed on another contractor, Procida Construction Corp., as part of a prior Assurance of Discontinuance. In March 2013, PCC settled a prevailing wage case with Schneiderman’s office in which they paid $980,000 in penalties. They were also required to submit to independent monitoring of its labor practices and their contractors with unannounced on-site inspections.

The monitor discovered JAM’s violations and relayed the information to Schneiderman’s office.

Federal and state prevailing wage laws ensure that government contractors pay wages and benefits comparable to the local norms for a given trade, which tend to be above the state and federal minimum wage.