NJ Companies Ordered To Give $429K To Underpaid Carpenters: Feds

A judge has ordered three New Jersey-based companies to give $429,846 in back wages and benefits to carpenters who were allegedly underpaid on the job, federal authorities announced Monday.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division alleges that Above All Inc. – formerly headquartered in Pequannock – violated federal law while working on new construction and renovation projects for the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Centers in Lyons and East Orange.

Elizabeth-based prime contractors Regiment Construction Corp. and Seawolf Construction Corp. subcontracted Above All to perform carpentry work on a total of three projects, authorities said.

Investigators found that Above All paid its carpenters an average of $32 per hour, less than the required “prevailing wage” of $59.08 to $68.23 per hour, the department of labor said.

After conducting an investigation and filing litigation, the department’s Office of Administrative Law Judges issued a decision and order finding Above All in violation of the Davis-Bacon Act. The judge also found that the company intentionally falsified records to hide underpayments, authorities said.

Prime contractors Regiment and Seawolf were also found liable for full payment of back wages and fringe benefits owed to workers on their respective projects as a result of Above All’s violations, authorities said.

Above All Inc., Regiment Construction Corp. and Seawolf Construction Corp. have filed petitions for review of the decision with the department’s Administrative Review Board, authorities noted.

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