Joint Employer

"Joint Employer" is a legal concept under which an employer can be held liable for the actions of companies they hire when that employer controls certain aspects of the work of the employees of the hired company.

According to an article in the Wall Street Journal last week, “The Labor Department is investigating pay practices at many of the top companies in home building, hitting them with a broad demand for records that has led to complaints of regulatory overreach.”

In the move, the Labor Department is “opening a probe under the Fair Labor Standards Act, which governs matters such as overtime pay and limits on using teen workers”.

The Department, as part of its investigations, recently sent letters that, “instructed the home builder to immediately turn over the names, addresses, Social Security numbers, Read more » about Labor Investigations Heating Up

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A recent decision following an investigation by the New Orleans District Office Wage and Hour Division of the US Department of Labor tied a Louisiana general contractor to the employment of drywall installers hired by a subcontractor for work on several residential and commercial projects.  The workers were misclassified as independent contractors and denied overtime wages for the time they worked each week over 40 hours.  The subcontractor, Escapade Acoustic Drywall from Lafayette, and the general contractor, Lloyd N. Moreau LLC of Pineville were found to have a joint employment relationship and are both being held responsible for the workers’ back wages.

A press release from the US Department of Labor earlier this month explains the problem with the growing practice of worker misclassification / payroll fraud.

“The practice is a serious threat both to workers entitled to good, safe jobs, and employers who obey the law. Too often workers are deprived of overtime and minimum wages, and forced to pay taxes that their employers are legally obligated to pay. Honest employers have a difficult time competing against scofflaws.”   Read more » about Contractor Found to be Equally Responsible for Sub’s Hiring Fraud

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The wage theft class action suit filed by the Workers Defense Project on behalf of three construction workers who claimed that the specialty contractor Greater Metroplex Interiors (GMI) had shorted them on wages due and had not paid them overtime on the construction of the Gables Park Plaza has an interesting basis on a little known part of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) according to the Department of Labor.

The interesting point about the suit is that the suit is filed claiming joint employer status.  The plaintiff’s attorney, Craig Deats of Deats, Durst, Owen & Levy, PLLC in Austin told Construction Citizen that this is a common law under the labor laws and that the courts will decide whether GMI acted as a joint employer as is claimed in the suit.  He offers his opinion in the following video:

Read more » about Wage Theft in Austin – Part 2

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Construction Citizen attended a press conference at the Gables Park Plaza in Austin, Texas last week.  The press conference was called by the Workers Defense Project to announce that they had assisted three workers who claimed that their employer, Capoera Construction, and Greater Metroplex Interiors (GMI), the contractor who hired Capoera Construction, owed them back wages and overtime for work that they performed on this and another project. 

The men say that they often worked up to 70 hours and six days per week without receiving overtime pay and that they were not even paid at all for their work toward the end of the projects. Read more » about Wage Theft in Austin

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