Baystate Services, a Woburn general contractor, will pay more than $31,000 to workers employed by a subcontractor who were paid less than the state’s minimum wage, Massachusetts Attorney General (AG) Martha Coakley announced today.
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Get Your Report Now!Baystate Services contracted with Host Hotels and Resorts, Inc. to renovate rooms at Boston’s Marriott Copley Place hotel. Baystate then entered into a subcontract with a California corporation, Installations Plus, which in turn subcontracted work to a Philadelphia-based church, Victory Outreach. Victory Outreach employed workers to move hotel furniture for the renovation who were paid less than the Massachusetts basic minimum wage of $8 per hour.
Victory Outreach claimed that it received no compensation for arranging employment for its members and that it cannot afford to make up the pay gap. Installations Plus maintained that it did not employ the furniture movers and was not responsible for their wages.
After learning that workers were being paid less than $8 an hour, Baystate Services volunteered to pay the difference. In total, Baystate will pay $31,056 to 37 workers, with individual payments ranging from $100 to $2,332 depending on the number of hours worked. Baystate also agreed to more closely monitor its subcontractors to ensure that all workers on future projects are paid at least the Massachusetts minimum wage.