Minnesota Workers Recover A Whopping $1.28 Million In Wages, Damages

Wage theft is a serious problem across the country, and Minnesota is no exception. It happens when employers fail to pay workers what they are legally owed, whether that's overtime pay, regular wages, or other earned compensation.

In many cases, it goes unreported and unresolved, leaving workers shortchanged and without recourse. Thankfully, that is not always the case, as the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) is there to ensure a safe, healthy, and equitable work and living environment for people in the state.

Big new hit this week when the DLI announced that it made its largest recovery in a wage and hour investigation violation.

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$1.28 Million in Back Wages and Liquidated Damages Recovered in Minnesota

The DLI announced this week that it has recovered $1.28 million in back wages and liquidated damages for 26 construction workers, the largest recovery in a wage and hour violation investigation in the agency's history.

The settlement involves two companies: Property Maintenance & Construction LLC and Property Maintenance and Construction Inc. (PMC), along with Advantage Construction Inc. Under the agreement, Advantage will pay back wages, while PMC will cover liquidated damages.

According to the DLI, the violations were uncovered across 19 separate construction projects in the Twin Cities metro area, spanning from March 2019 through June 2022. One of those projects was the high-profile Viking Lakes development in Eagan, the mixed-use complex built by the Wilf family, owners of the Minnesota Vikings, that surrounds the team's headquarters.

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Reports indicate that the violations included denied overtime pay, workers being paid off the books in cash, and failure to provide required earnings statements. Investigators had reportedly previously sought as much as $2.4 million from the companies before the case was ultimately resolved through consent orders.

DLI Commissioner Nicole Blissenbach stressed that the agency was committed to recovering every dollar owed to the impacted workers, noting that most were shorted tens of thousands of dollars each. She added that efforts like this help ensure a level playing field for law-abiding employers in the construction industry.

It's important to note that Minnesota has taken meaningful steps to address wage theft in recent years. The Minnesota Wage Theft Prevention Act and the Construction Worker Wage Protection Act, which took effect in August 2023, now hold contractors liable for unpaid wages owed by their subcontractors. However, the new law didn't apply to this particular case due to timing.

The DLI urges any worker or employer with questions about wage rights and responsibilities to contact its Labor Standards Division, which can be reached at 651-284-5075 or at dli.mn.gov/laborlaw.