Prevailing Wage Payroll Fraud Register

PROBLEM: The U.S. Department of Labor recovered $77,206 in back wages for five workers on a federally funded Brookline Housing Authority construction project after finding that Claras Construction did not pay the required prevailing wage and fringe benefits and failed to keep accurate payroll records, and that Westview Building Company falsified certified payroll records for Claras to avoid paying the prevailing wage and fringe benefits. The Department recovered the wages from the prime contractor, which was responsible for ensuring subcontractor compliance, and barred Claras and Westview from federally funded projects for three years.

SOLUTION: A Storage Copy Data Management register that stores, per federally funded construction project, the certified payroll submitted, the prevailing-wage determination, the hours and rates actually paid, and any discrepancy between the certified record and the payment record, with an immutable copy of each payroll version so that a falsified resubmission can be detected and compared.

EVIDENCE BASIS: DOCUMENTED — U.S. Department of Labor: $77,206 recovered for five workers on a Brookline Housing Authority project; Claras Construction failed to pay prevailing wages/fringe benefits; Westview Building Company falsified certified payroll records; both barred from federally funded projects for three years (DOL Wage and Hour Division).