Miami electrical company caught paying workers improperly, shorting them $37,000
A U.S. Department of Labor investigation found a Miami electrical and professional engineering company working in Everglades National Park’s Flamingo Visitor Center kept $37,411 of earned pay out of workers’ wallets.
Once paid, that money went to eight employees of WDR Technology, $4,676.37 per worker.
WDR was subcontracted for electrical work by Palmetto Bay’s Lunacon Engineering Group. WDR, run by Walter Finaldi, didn’t answer an email or a phone message from the Miami Herald.
Labor’s Thursday announcement of the violations said WDR “paid most of their employees as ironworkers, a practice that denied workers a higher rate of pay per hour, and health and welfare benefits required for electrical work.”
Also, WDR’s certified payrolls showed the company paid workers weekly, but it actually paid them biweekly.
Both are violations of the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts, which say contractors and subcontractors doing federally funded work on public buildings or public works have to pay “no less than the locally prevailing wages and fringe benefits for corresponding work on similar projects in the area.”
Wage and Hour Division investigators also found that WDR didn’t keep records of the regular hourly pay rate of any workweek. That’s a Fair Labor Standards Act violation.
The Wage and Hour complaint section of Labor’s website contains information on how to file a complaint if you believe your employer has violated FLSA. Miami’s Wage and Hour Division office can be reached at 305-598-6607. The national helpline is 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243).
No matter the immigration or citizenship status of workers, they can speak with the department, which says it can handle calls in more than 200 languages.
This story was originally published June 15, 2022 at 10:14 AM.
