Federal contractor on Idaho bridge project pays $92,290 in back wages

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI/KIDK) – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), JM Concrete Inc. has paid $92,290 in back wages to 27 employees for violating prevailing wage requirements on the Lorenzo Bridge Rehabilitation project on State Highway 20 in Jefferson and Madison counties.

WHD investigators found JM Concrete Inc. violated the Davis-Bacon Act when the employer failed to pay required prevailing wages and fringe benefits to the project’s carpenters, truck drivers, power equipment operators and general laborers. 

The employer also failed to pay workers weekly as the law requires.

“The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division is committed to ensuring that workers receive all the wages they have legally earned, especially in these unprecedented times,” said the Wage and Hour Division’s Regional Administrator Ruben Rosalez, in San Francisco, California. “This investigation sends a strong message that the Wage and Hour Division will actively protect workers’ rights and level the playing field for employers. We encourage employers to reach out to us and to use the many tools we provide to help them understand their responsibilities. Employers can avoid violations like those found in this case.”

JM Concrete works on commercial and federal government contracts. The $1.8 million Lorenzo Bridge project included the replacement of a bridge deck’s top layer and approach slabs, curb repairs, metal rail replacement and fixing cracks in abutments, piers and girders. Funded by a grant from the Federal Highway Administration, the State of Idaho Transportation Department administered the grant.

The Davis-Bacon and Related Acts apply to contractors and subcontractors performing on federally funded or assisted contracts in excess of $2,000 for the construction, alteration, or repair (including painting and decorating) of public buildings or public works. Under the act, contractors and subcontractors must pay their laborers employed under the contract no less than the locally prevailing wages and fringe benefits for corresponding work on similar projects in the area.