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The contractors were performing construction work at 88 Regent St. in Jersey City.
More than 60 investigators, including those from the state Attorney General's Office and Labor Department, conducted an unannounced sweep in the summer of 2021 in response to allegations of workers being underpaid or paid off the books.
Grand Street Construction, LLC of Jersey City, the owner/ general contractor on the project, did not return requests for comment. The state said the general contractor and many of its subcontractors are liable for back pay, back taxes and penalties.
“After a hard day of work, everyone deserves to receive their full wages and benefits," said Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin. "We will not tolerate companies and contractors that cut corners to make an extra buck."
The joint investigation followed up on complaints of workers being misclassified as independent contractors. Allegations also included workers not being paid properly for overtime, and employers failing to pay appropriate taxes on purchased construction materials and not carrying workers’ compensation insurance.
“This has been an intensive, large-scale investigation, and we’re far from finished with this case or future enforcement,” said NJDOL Assistant Commissioner of Wage and Hour Compliance Joseph Petrecca.
The probe also found that 14 subcontractors owed more than $104,000 in back taxes, state officials said.
Subcontractor P & B Partitions of West Berlin, which hired several of the other subcontractors at fault, was cited for records violations, misclassifying employees, and unpaid and late wages, and assessed more than $324,000 in penalties and fees, in addition to a $8,692 misclassification penalty to be paid to 22 of its workers.
P & B Partitions is contesting that assessment.
In addition to its own violations, P & B also contracted with at least 5 other lower tier sub-contractors who also failed to properly classify their employees and pay them properly. Those violations and penalties total $237,289.63 and that liability also lies with both P & B Partitions and Grand Street since those contractors failed to challenge the alleged violations against them, state officials said.
Finally, another sub-contractor on the Regent Street project, BWK Construction, LLC was also found to have failed to pay employees overtime, failed to provide them with Earned Sick Leave as required, and to have misclassified employees by paying them in cash off the books. Grand Street was notified of those alleged violations by BWK Construction and their failure to respond to allegations which totaled some $350,171.49 in back wages, fees and penalties.
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