Coakley
BOSTON (Legal Newsline) - Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley announced an agreement on Wednesday with a Woburn general contractor that allegedly subcontracted with a company that paid less than the state's minimum wage.
Baystate Services contracted with Host Hotels and Resorts Inc. for renovation work at the Marriot Copley Place hotel in Boston. Baystate entered into a subcontract with the California-based Installations Plus, which then subcontracted work to the Pennsylvania-based Victory Outreach, a Philadelphia church.
Victory Outreach allegedly employed workers to move hotel furniture during the project for less than the state's basic minimum wage of $8 per hour.
"Employers are required to pay employees a fair wage for a day's work," Coakley said. "We enforce these laws not only to protect workers, but to level the playing field for all businesses who play by the rules."
Victory Outreach said that it did not get any compensation for arranging employment for its members and that it doesn't have assets sufficient enough to pay workers the difference between what they received and $8 per hour. Installation Plus said that it was not responsible for the wages of the movers and that it did not employ them.
Baystate Services voluntarily agreed to pay the difference between what the workers were paid and $8 per hour. Each worker will receive between $100 and $2,332, depending on how many hours each worker worked on the job. Baystate Services voluntarily paid a total of $31,056 to 37 workers. The company will also more closely monitor the hour and wage compliance of its subcontractors to make sure that future workers on its projects are paid the basic minimum wage in the state.
The resolution does not prevent Coakley's office from taking further action on the matter.