JVS Roofing of Jonesboro, Georgia, has been cited for
both safety violations and misclassification of workers following a U.S.
Department of Labor investigation.
The investigations occurred after a 17-year-old worker
fell from a job site at a Lowe’s home improvement store in New Castle,
Pennsylvania. Mid-South Contractors – operating as Mid-South Roof Systems in
Forest Park, Georgia – subcontracted JVS Roofing to perform roofing work atop
the Lowe’s store in New Castle at the time of the teen’s injuries.
“JVS Roofing ignored federal child labor laws and hired
an underage employee to do prohibited roofing work,” said Wage and Hour
Division District Director John DuMont in Pittsburgh. “In reviewing this
incident, our investigators then determined that the employer shortchanged
workers an average of $3,000 per employee in earned overtime by misclassifying
them as independent contractors.”
The Wage and
Hour Division recovered $92,640 in back wages for the affected
workers, and the department has received the employer’s payment of a $6,399
civil money penalty assessed for the child labor violation.
A subsequent investigation by the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration found
JVS Roofing failed to provide employees with required fall protection, did
not provide related training and allowed employees to work without a fall
protection system in place.
OSHA issued the company a citation for four serious
safety violations and proposed $16,500 in penalties, which the company has
paid.
“Putting a child to work on a roof is irresponsible and a
violation of federal safety laws,” said OSHA Area Director Brendan Claybaugh in
Erie, Pennsylvania. “Fall hazards are well-known by employers and they remain a
leading cause of serious injury and deaths in the construction industry. There
is simply no place for such reckless behavior.”
Agency Wage and Hour Division
Date March 21, 2023
Release Number 23-524-PHI
More at https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/whd/whd20230321
