The Department of Labor found that the contractor failed to comply with Davis-Bacon requirements
In July, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) approved a settlement agreement in which second-tier subcontractor Brothers Mechanical, Inc., agreed to pay $193,662 in backwages for the alleged Davis-Bacon Act (“DBA”) violations of its third-tier subcontractor Big G Sheet Metal Work, Inc. (“Big G”). Under the DBA, contractors and subcontractors on certain government projects must pay construction workers at least the federal prevailing wage.
DOL’s charging letters alleged that, while performing HVAC work on the Grove at Parkside – a low-income housing project in D.C. – Big G had failed to pay construction workers the proper prevailing wage and fringe benefit rates. The letters also alleged that Big G had submitted falsified certified payroll reports to the contracting agency, the D.C. Department of Housing and Community Development.
Brothers Mechanical, which could be held liable for its subcontractor’s violations under the Act, disputed DOL’s allegations and requested a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge. Brothers Mechanical and DOL ultimately entered into a settlement agreement requiring Brothers Mechanical to withhold $193,662 in contract payments to Big G in order to satisfy the back wages owed to the workers on the project. DOL also agreed not to seek disbarment of respondent Brothers Mechanical as part of the settlement agreement.
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