Migliaccio & Rathod LLP is investigating whether employees who work at D.C. government buildings, construction projects, schools, universities, hospitals, hotels, transportation facilities, apartment buildings, and commercial properties have been denied wages by a subcontractor.
What is the general issue?
Many employees perform work at a recognizable building or project but receive their paycheck from a company they have never heard of before starting the job. The building owner, government agency, developer, hotel, university, or large service company may hire a principal contractor, which then hires one or more subcontractors or labor brokers.
Workers at the bottom of that chain may experience:
- Unpaid overtime.
- Off-the-clock work.
- Missing minimum or living wages.
- Missing prevailing wages on qualifying construction projects.
- Missing contract wages or fringe benefits.
- Employee misclassification.
- Unpaid sick and safe leave.
- Late or missing paychecks.
- Illegal uniform, equipment, transportation, or tool deductions.
- Automatic meal deductions when employees continue working.
- Hours divided among related companies to avoid overtime.
Why does the contracting chain matter?
Under D.C.’s Wage Payment and Collection Law, a general contractor can be jointly and severally liable for wage violations committed by a subcontractor. Workers may therefore have claims against a financially responsible company higher in the chain even when that company did not hire them directly or issue their paychecks.
A worker generally does not need to know the prime contractor’s identity before contacting an attorney. The worksite, approximate dates, job duties, supervisor names, uniform, paycheck company, and photographs or text messages may be enough to begin identifying the relevant companies.
Industries commonly affected
- Construction and renovation.
- Janitorial and commercial cleaning.
- Hotel housekeeping.
- Security services.
- Food service and institutional kitchens.
- Transportation and delivery.
- Home health and medical support.
- Building maintenance.
- Landscaping and snow removal.
- Staffing-agency and temporary labor.
- Government service contracts.
Signs you may be affected
- You worked for a subcontractor performing services on a District of Columbia government contract.
- You worked in construction, maintenance, janitorial services, food service, security, transportation, or another contracted position.
- You worked before or after your scheduled shift without being paid for all of your time.
- You worked more than 40 hours in a week but did not receive proper overtime pay.
- Your paycheck did not include the contract wage, required fringe benefits, or all hours you worked.
- You were employed by a subcontractor that failed to properly pay wages owed while working on a District government project.
Information that may help
Potential plaintiffs should preserve:
- Paystubs, checks, payment-app records, or bank deposits.
- Personal calendars or notes showing hours.
- Photographs of the building, project, badge, uniform, or work area.
- Text messages with supervisors.
- Schedules and time sheets.
- Names of coworkers.
- Tax forms.
- Contractor or staffing-company business cards.
- Safety orientation, training, or sign-in records.
If you performed work in Washington, D.C. through a contractor, subcontractor, staffing company, labor broker, franchise system, temporary agency, or crew leader and believe you were not paid all wages you earned, please contact Migliaccio & Rathod LLP through the form below, by email at [email protected], or by telephone at (202) 470-3520.