After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Vos Electric Inc. – an electrical contractor based in Green Bay, Wisconsin – has paid $221,853 in back wages and benefits to 32 employees for violating requirements of the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act (CWHSSA) and the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts (DBRA). The violations occurred while the employees were working at the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project.
 
Investigators found the employer incorrectly classified electricians as laborers and, as a result, paid them at hourly and fringe benefit rates lower than those legally required for the work they performed.
 
“Employers performing work on federal contracts have an obligation to ensure they pay their employees the wages they have legally earned under all applicable laws,” said Acting Wage and Hour District Director Derrick Witherspoon, in Atlanta, Georgia. “We encourage all employers and employees to reach out to us for assistance in understanding their rights and responsibilities under the law.”

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers contracted CDM Constructors Inc. as the prime contractor for the project’s dissolved oxygen injection system. In turn, CDM Constructors Inc. subcontracted Vos Electric Inc. to perform electrical work on the system.