Houston resident Enrique Solis was a temporary employee working at the Cameron LNG construction site in Hackberry before he quit two weeks ago because of a bounced check and two incomplete payments, he said.
His co-workers, Solis said, experienced incomplete payments and bad checks as well.
Solis, who was employed as an iron worker by Chicago Bridge & Iron Co., said he also objected to uncompensated commute and waiting times and was unsatisfied with onsite water availability.
“I don’t want to get this company in trouble,” Solis said. “But I think somebody should speak up.”
Solis was one of three workers who spoke to the American Press about conditions at the Hackberry site and issues with their pay. He was the only one to give his name.
Joyce LeJeune, a local landlord, called the American Press on behalf of tenants and their associates. She said they have had to wait several days beyond payday to receive funds from CB&I.
The tenants have spoken to her about numerous instances among CB&I employees of bad or incomplete paychecks and per diems, as well as trouble with direct deposit payments, she said.
LeJeune said one of her tenants had been timely with his rent, but has been unable to pay half his $1,000 deposit fee because his per diem wasn’t paid on time.
CB&I officials said in a statement that worker safety and well-being are important to the company and that employee concerns are addressed directly through human resources, project management teams and a company hotline.
“We are committed to ensuring all employees are treated fairly and given necessary and appropriate resources,” the statement reads.
Bounced checks
Solis said one of his checks bounced when he returned to Houston on Sept. 9. He said the bank told him it couldn’t cash it because of a problem with his account information or a lack of funds in the employer’s bank account. He said the bank later confirmed that CB&I’s account lacked funds.
Solis provided the American Press with a copy of the check, which contained a comment he said was written by the bank: “Funds won’t be there until the Sept. 20th” — 11 days after his scheduled payday. When he confronted CB&I about the issue, he said, the company said the payment didn’t go through because of an issue on his end. He said the check cleared on Sept. 21.
He also said CB&I once took a week to pay him for four hours that were missing on his paycheck. He said CB&I once took $225 out of his per diem, repaying it a week later after he reported the issue.
Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, employers must pay workers at least the full minimum wage at the regular appointed time.
Lack of water
Solis said the company would “forget some days to get them water.” On those days the water that was available would be days old, he said. Although his co-workers brought this up at meetings, he said, the problem continued.
Federal law says that an “employer shall provide potable drinking water in amounts that are adequate to meet the health and personal needs of each employee.”
LeJeune said she has contacted the Occupational Safety and Health Administration about the conditions at the Hackberry site.
Travel time
Solis said workers are required to show up as early as 5:30 a.m. at a Sulphur location to catch a bus to the Hackberry site for work at 7:30 a.m. But he said workers weren’t paid for the time spent waiting for an open bus, for time spent on the bus or for time spent waiting onsite before clocking in at 7:30 a.m.
He said they also had meetings at 7 a.m., but were not paid until 7:30 a.m.
The American Press went to the Sulphur parking lot Thursday. Cars filed into the parking lot almost continuously from 5:15 to 6:00 a.m. The first bus left at 5:31 a.m.
According to a U.S. Labor Department fact sheet provided by Juan Rodriguez, a DOL spokesman, employers aren’t required to pay workers for
time spent “waiting to be engaged.”
But they must start paying workers for time they are involved in their “principal activity” or are somehow “engaged to wait,” even if they aren’t doing any work. The fact sheet says that the “workweek ordinarily includes all time during which an employee is necessarily required to be on the employer’s premises, on duty or at a prescribed work place.”
The Labor Department fact sheet doesn’t explicitly state whether required employer-provided transport is compensable, but courts elsewhere have ruled that travel via shuttle service wasn’t compensable time.
Solis said his new job in Freeport, Texas, does pay him for the transport time.
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For more information on labor laws or to file a complaint, call 866-487-9243 or visit http://ift.tt/17FMqan.
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