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APPRENTICE ALERT
When PowerComm LLC won a bid to repair street lights in Holyoke, MA, the Virginia company hired a young man from that city to work as an apprentice on the job. The only problem: PowerComm didn’t have an apprentice program registered with the Massachusetts Division of Apprentice Training (DAT). The worker was called an apprentice and illegally paid at the lower apprenice rate.
FFCM monitor Art Butler became aware of the problem last year when examining PowerComm’s certified payrolls. A quick check with the Division of Apprentice Training was all it took to confirm Butler’s hunch: the so-called apprentice was being scammed. “This was an outfit from out of state; they came in and broke the law.” Butler alerted the Attorney General’s office which investigated the worker’s claim and ultimately required PowerComm to pay the worker nearly $16,000.
Apprentice scams like this one have become increasingly common among construction contractors in recent years. The FFCM has referred several cases to the Attorney General that have resulted in unregistered apprenitces collecting $50,000 in back wages from their employers. In one recent case, a contractor on a school repair project was paying the so-called apprentices $10-15 below the legal rate.
Butler notes that he and other FFCM monitors keep a close eye out for any signs of misclassification when they examine certified payrolls. “All it takes is a quick search of the state’s database and we know if an apprenticeship program is legitimate or not,” says Butler.
Attention Apprentices: Want to know whether your apprentice program is registered with the state? Call 1-877-507-3247 (3247).
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