A U.S. Department of Labor investigation has found that 21 construction companies that helped complete the Hackney House Apartments housing development in Oconomowoc violated labor laws, according to a Monday announcement.
The Department of Labor was able to recover more than $1.2 million in overtime wages for the construction workers who built the development, which was insured by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Any housing projects insured by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development are subject to the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts, according to Monday’s announcement. The DBRA requires that workers on federally assisted construction projects are not paid less than local prevailing wages.
The Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found the prime contractor for the project, Rosemont, Illinois-based
McShane Construction Company, violated the DBRA by failing to provide subcontractors with accurate information on wage rates to pay workers in certain job classifications.
The Wage and Hour Division investigated a total of 23 subcontractors on the project. Investigations of 13 of these subcontractors resulted in the recovery of $1.2 million in prevailing wages and an additional $30,472 in overtime back wages for 142 workers. Among the 13 companies to pay overtime back wages were Milwaukee-based
On-Site Staffing Services and Franklin-based
Trujillo Drywall.
“Our recovery of an average of $8,694 per worker will benefit these workers and their families financially and make a positive economic impact in their communities,” said
Michael Lazzeri, Wage and Hour Division regional administrator in Chicago. “Employers on a federally funded project must comply with all federal guidelines for prevailing wages and benefits.”
McShane Construction Company
announced in September that it completed work to build Hackney House Apartments, a 302-unit apartment development at the Pabst Farms development in Oconomowoc.
Milwaukee-based
Mandel Group is the developer for the project, which features 18 two-story garden-style buildings and two three-story townhome buildings.
