WASHINGTON — Two Virginia-based companies will pay to settle wage theft investigations, Attorney General Brian Schwalb announced Tuesday. Cleaning business Commercial Real Estate Consulting Group and drywall contractor T&A Construction will cumulatively pay more than $193,000 to D.C. workers who were deprived wages and benefits.
As part of separate settlements, that resolve allegations that the companies violated D.C. wage and hour laws, the companies will also pay $145,000 in civil penalties to the District, the AG's office said.
“The Office of the Attorney General won’t allow companies to profit at the expense of their workers — or gain an unfair advantage over their competitors by flouting the law,” Schwalb said. “We are committed to protecting D.C. workers, ensuring collection of D.C. taxes, unemployment insurance premiums and workers’ compensation payments, and ensuring a level playing field for all District businesses. Community tips are a critical part of these investigations, and I encourage anyone who believes that a District business is violating workers’ rights to contact our office.”
T&A Construction, LLC is a Virginia-based drywall contractor that conducts business in D.C. An OAG investigation revealed that between 2018 and 2021, T&A improperly retained subcontractors to supply workers for projects across DC, and these subcontractors improperly misclassified scores of construction workers as independent contractors rather than properly classifying them as employees. As a result, these workers were deprived of paid sick leave and other work benefits.
T&A stopped these misclassification practices in 2021 and now relies on workers properly classified as employees.
To resolve the investigation, T&A will:
- Pay $100,000 to harmed workers: Workers who were previously misclassified as independent contractors will receive compensation.
- Pay $125,000 in penalties to the District.
- Stop doing business with subcontractors that previously misclassified workers: T&A is prohibited from doing business with the subcontractors that misclassified workers on the above listed worksites without OAG’s approval.
The full settlement agreement is available here.
Commercial Real Estate Consulting Group, LLC (CRECG) is a commercial cleaning company. The company is also based in Virginia and does business in the District.
After receiving a tip from the Latino Economic Development Center, OAG opened an investigation into allegations that CREG had misclassified workers providing cleaning services at commercial worksites in the Wharf development, failed to pay overtime wages, failed to provide required paid sick leave, and failed to provide timely final paychecks to workers who left the company. CRECG cooperated with OAG’s investigation and took corrective action.
To resolve allegations that CRECG violated the District’s Wage Payment and Collection Law, Minimum Wage Revision Act, and Sick & Safe Leave Act, the company will:
- Pay $93,109 in restitution and damages to workers: Cleaning workers will receive restitution and damages for overtime wages and paid sick leave they are legally owed.
- Pay a civil penalty of $21,000 to the District.
- Ensure compliance with District law moving forward: CRECG will implement policies and practices to ensure compliance with all District wage and hour laws moving forward, and will submit proof of compliance to OAG. CRECG has also committed to accurately classifying workers as employees.
The settlement agreement is available here.