MetroWest Contractors Face Stiff State Penalties
Two MetroWest construction subcontracting firms working on housing development projects in the state have been fined tens of thousands of dollars for allegedly failing to pay proper wages to employees, the state announced Wednesday.
AM Construction Services of Framingham and Two Bros. Construction in East Natick were two of five employers named by the state as facing fines after a year-long investigation related to alleged misclassification of employees and failure to pay proper wages and unemployment insurance taxes.
In total, the five subcontractors named by the state were ordered to pay $409,777 in previously unpaid wages to employees and another $141,000 to the state's unemployment system.
All of the contractors were working on construction sites owned by Pulte Homes, including sites in Natick and Northbridge.
Closer Examination
The investigation and penalties came about from the state's Joint Enforcement Task Force on the Underground Economy and Employee Misclassification, which is an effort involving staff from the state Attorney General and labor and workforce development offices. The state has been increasing its enforcement of employment law violations. To read more about the issue, click here.
AM Construction Services of Framingham allegedly failed to pay $15,331 in wages to workers. As part of that, the state charged the firm $22,500 in penalties. AM Construction was working on Pulte Home sites in Braintree and Plymouth. Adimar Moura is the listed registered agent of AM Construction in Framingham, but there is no phone number listed.
Two Bros. Construction in East Natick was charged $34,751 in unpaid wages to workers and another $34,500 in penalties to the state related to work at a Pulte project in Plymouth. Wellington DeLima Borges is listed as the president of Two Bros. Construction, but there is no phone number listed for that business either.
Subcontractors working at Pulte Homes' Natick site were also named by the state, including Five Stars Construction from Trumbull, Conn., which was chareged $30,700 in unpaid wages and a $30,000 penalty.
Seven Seas Group from Fall River worked on the Natick site as well and has been ordered to pay $10,000 in back wages and $20,000 in penalties.
A Brooklyn, N.Y.-based firm, Nunes Bros. Construction, was cited for $99,000 in unpaid wages involving 23 workers in Natick and Northbridge, and an additional $112,000 in fines.
Other unnamed contractors were also cited for failing to pay unemployment insurance taxes related to the housing development projects. That includes $80,768 in unpaid UI taxes from the Northbridge site and $35,692 in unpaid UI taxes from the Natick site spanning a four-year period.
Pulte Homes, which was not fined by the state, is constructing a 268-unit housing development off of South Main Street in Natick, according to Patrick Reffett, the Natick community development director.
The project, he said, is about half complete and some residences are already occupied. It's mostly condominiums with some townhouse and multifamily-style units, he said. The project was filed under the state's Chapter 40B development law, which calls for a percentage of the units to be reserved for low- to moderate-income residents.
Reffett is not worried about the impact the fines could have on the property in terms of the units selling or the project being completed. But he is glad to see the state cracking down on contractors that may be skirting the law.
"It's an unfortunate situation that happens with alarming regularity in the construction industry," Reffett said. "It happens and it's a good thing that it gets caught: If you make a commitment to pay people a certain amount, you need to do it."
Officials with Pulte did not return a call seeking comment.
The contractors have been notifed of the charges and have 10 days to appeal, a spokesperson for the Attorney General's office said.
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