Construction contractor P.S. Construction Group has paid $212,269 in back wages to 40 employees and has been debarred by the U.S. Department of Labor from participating in federal Davis-Bacon Projects for three years for its failure to pay prevailing wages on a federally funded project.

The Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division launched an investigation into the company in November of 2011 and found serious prevailing wage violations regarding its work on a renovation of a Cleveland area hospital which was funded by the Department of Housing of Urban Affairs.

According to the Department of Labor P.S. Construction Group falsified electronic payrolls to make it appear that the correct prevailing wages were given to employees from November 2012 through November 2011.

The investigation found that that P.S. Construction Group and its principal, Peter D’Agostino, Jr., violated both the Davis-Bacon Related Acts and the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act. The Davis-Bacon Act requires contractors to pay workers on federally funded projects a prevailing wage which is determined by the Department of Labor. The Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act requires that contractors on projects exceeding $100,000 to pay laborers and mechanics time and a half for hours that are worked in excess of 40 in a single week.