Martha Coakley (D)
BOSTON (Legal Newsline) - An asbestos removal company in Lowell, Mass., has agreed to a settlement with the state over claims that it failed to pay a prevailing wage to its employees or keep and submit payroll records.
SRS Contractors, Inc., and its owners, Sina Min and Sambath Yim, have already paid $115,760 in restitution to employees affected by the wage discrepancy and will pay an additional $20,000 in fines to the commonwealth to resolve the allegations.
The Massachusetts Prevailing Wage Laws apply to certain public work construction projects and public service contracts in the state by creating a level playing field for both contractors and subcontractors by enforcing a standardized rate of pay for workers.
The investigation into SRS Contractors resulted from several complaints received by Attorney General Martha Coakley's office by SRS Contractors employees who alleged that they had not been paid a prevailing wage for work performed at the Beverly High School Project.
During the course of the investigation, the attorney general's Fair Labor Division discovered that 20 employees had not been paid a prevailing wage from February through May.
SRS Contractors had also failed to submit any true and accurate certified payroll records for that time to the awarding authority, it was found, and had failed to keep true and accurate payroll records from January 2008 through April 2009, as is required by law.
In addition to the money paid in restitution and a $7,500 fine paid to the commonwealth, SRS Contractors was cited $7,500 for its failures to submit its payroll records and $5,000 for failing to keep true and accurate payroll records.