HUD's Work Ensured Laborers in New York City Received up to $200K Each for Underpayment of Wages

HUD's Work Ensured Laborers in New York City Received up to $200K Each for Underpayment of Wages

HUD's Office of Davis-Bacon and Labor Standards (DBLS), a division within the Office of Field Policy & Management (FPM), is dedicated to enforcing federal statutes and regulations to ensure that laborers are compensated fairly for the work they perform. On June 30, 2021, the Region II DBLS team celebrated the successful resolution of key appeals stemming from a dispute between the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) and several general contractors regarding underpayment of wages.

As a result of the hard work of DBLS Labor Standards Specialists (LSS) in both Region II and Region III, HPD has issued wage restitution checks to workers for a combined amount of $504,632.19.  (4 of the 5 workers have already received their checks; the remaining check will be processed after documentation verification.) The breakdown of payments is listed below:

• Employee 1:       $185,274.86
• Employee 2:       $202,906.60
• Employee 3:       $46,299.29
• Employee 4:       $46,975.60
• Employee 5:       $23,175.84

After presenting the checks to the workers, an HPD representative told HUD, "We took pictures of each as well…they must have been smiling 'ear to ear' behind their masks!"

This successful restitution would not have been possible without the collaborative efforts of DBLS team members from Regions II and III, including Region III Supervisory LSS Debra "Debbie" Bensala, Senior LSS Eric Ramoth, LSS Kamaria Taylor, LSS Lavaris Ross, and Region II LSS Team Lead Cory Chu, LSS Gary Kinsel, and LSS Loretta Franco.

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