📋 Tender Overview
The U.S. Department of Labors Office of Administrative Law Judges has signed an agreement between the department and E.C. Construction Inc. in which the company will pay 24755 in civil penalties for its violations of H-2B visa program labor provisions. As a result of a Wage and Hour Division WHD investigation the Rineyville Kentucky-based stonemason contractor will also pay four employees 76803 in back wages.A WHD investigation determined that E.C. Construction required prospective U.S. workers to complete drug testing when they did not require testing for H-2B workers violating the H-2B visa program prohibition against preferential treatment. The contractor also incorrectly classified workers as helpers while they performed the work of brickmasons or blockmasons a designation that resulted in E.C. Construction paying those workers at a lower rate than required for the work they actually performed. In addition WHD found the contractor failed to maintain accurate records of the employees earnings and did not display the required H-2B poster.Employers participating in the H-2B visa program must strictly adhere to all of the programs provisions in an effort to safeguard American jobs said Wage and Hour Division District Director Karen Garnett-Civils in Louisville Kentucky. The U.S. Department of Labor is committed to leveling the playing field for law-abiding employers and protecting vulnerable workers from being paid less than what they have legally earned.The Departments Wage and Hour Division offers numerous resources to ensure employers have the tools they need to understand their responsibilities and to comply with federal law such as online videos confidential calls or in-person visits to local WHD offices.
