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D.C. agency won't penalize company at center of massive wage theft case
Source: Washington Post
D.C. agency won’t penalize company at center of massive wage theft case
By Reis Thebault
September 3 at 2:37 PM
D.C. Attorney General Karl A. Racine is suing a Florida-based electrical contractor that has worked on some of the city’s most high-profile construction projects, saying the company is at the heart of the largest wage theft case his office has ever prosecuted.
But a District agency that vets contractors says it won’t penalize the company, Power Design, and will continue to allow it to participate in an apprenticeship program highly valued by companies in the building trades.
The allegations against Power Design are concerning, said Fred Howell, chair of the apprenticeship council, which considers applications to the program. But because the lawsuit doesn’t involve workers in the apprenticeship program, the council isn’t responsible for holding the company accountable, he said.
-snip-
Racine (D) filed his lawsuit in August, alleging Power Design misclassified 535 electrical workers as independent contractors, which kept them off the payroll and allowed the company to avoid paying some D.C. taxes. The lawsuit also said those workers didn’t get the required paid sick leave, that at least 180 workers weren’t paid the required overtime rate and that at least 63 weren’t paid minimum wage.
In an interview, Racine said Power Design has “a business model of wage theft.”
-snip-
By Reis Thebault
September 3 at 2:37 PM
D.C. Attorney General Karl A. Racine is suing a Florida-based electrical contractor that has worked on some of the city’s most high-profile construction projects, saying the company is at the heart of the largest wage theft case his office has ever prosecuted.
But a District agency that vets contractors says it won’t penalize the company, Power Design, and will continue to allow it to participate in an apprenticeship program highly valued by companies in the building trades.
The allegations against Power Design are concerning, said Fred Howell, chair of the apprenticeship council, which considers applications to the program. But because the lawsuit doesn’t involve workers in the apprenticeship program, the council isn’t responsible for holding the company accountable, he said.
-snip-
Racine (D) filed his lawsuit in August, alleging Power Design misclassified 535 electrical workers as independent contractors, which kept them off the payroll and allowed the company to avoid paying some D.C. taxes. The lawsuit also said those workers didn’t get the required paid sick leave, that at least 180 workers weren’t paid the required overtime rate and that at least 63 weren’t paid minimum wage.
In an interview, Racine said Power Design has “a business model of wage theft.”
-snip-
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/dc-agency-wont-penalize-company-at-center-of-massive-wage-theft-case/2018/09/03/d8deb71c-ac83-11e8-b1da-ff7faa680710_story.html