3 East Orange Companies Must Pony Up $850K To Workers: DOL

EAST ORANGE, NJ — A trio of East Orange construction companies have entered into a consent judgment with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and will pay $850,000 in back wages and damages to 153 workers to resolve violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

According to a statement from the DOL, its Wage and Hour Division investigators allege that the East Orange-based DKNJ Masonry Corp., Roy Rock LLC and Silver Construction Inc. – all controlled and operated by Rui Pires – violated the FLSA’s overtime and record keeping provisions.

Read the full statement about the consent judgement here.

The DOL stated:

“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.”

According to the DOL, the FLSA requires that covered, nonexempt employees be paid at least the minimum wage of $7.25 per hour for all hours worked, plus time-and-one-half their regular rates, including commissions, bonuses and incentive pay, for hours worked beyond 40 per week. Employers also must maintain accurate time and payroll records.

For more information about federal wage laws administered by the division, call the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information also is available at http://www.dol.gov/whd/.

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