November 20, 2009, 04:00:00PM. By Gordon Gibb

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Boston, MA: The failure of a Dorchester-based contractor to pay prevailing and overtime wages according to the provisions of Massachusetts Labor Law has cost Nealco Environmental Services, Inc. thousands of dollars in fines and other restitutions.

According to the tenets of the Prevailing Wage Laws, which are part of Massachusetts Employment Law, all contractors bidding on public works projects enjoy a "level playing field" by standardizing the rate of pay the workers will earn. A company's failure to pay its employees the prevailing wage for work performed at a public construction site can result in both civil and criminal penalties against the company and its owner.

That's exactly what happened to Neal Cass, the head of Nealco Environmental Services, Inc.

In August of last year the Attorney General's Fair Labor Division received a complaint alleging that Cass and Nealco had failed to pay the prevailing wage for asbestos removal work at various public construction projects. The Attorney General's Office began an investigation and determined that Cass and his company had intentionally failed to pay the prevailing wage and overtime to workers toiling at various construction sites in the state.

In all but three asbestos abatement projects numbering into the dozens, Nealco failed to submit certified payroll records. For the three remaining projects, certified payroll records indicated that employees were paid the prevailing wage, when in fact they had not.

According to a recent release by the Attorney General's Office, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley entered into a settlement agreement with Nealco.

Under the terms of the settlement and in view of violations to Massachusetts labor law, Nealco agrees to pay $12,000 in fines and more than $122,200 in restitution to employees of Nealco. According to the Attorney General's release, there will also be a total of $2,000 in fines for failure to submit certified payroll records on a weekly basis, and $6,000 in fines for intentional failure to submit true and accurate certified payroll records to local awarding authorities at three public construction projects. Cass and his company have also agreed to refrain from bidding on, or contracting for public construction work in the Commonwealth for a period of two years.

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