Since its powers were expanded to halt work on job sites under certain circumstances in 2019, the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (NJDOL) has issued more than 110 stop-work orders and assessed more than $2.7 million in back wages owed to affected workers, liquidated damages and penalties, the department announced this week.
In 2021, those controls were further expanded by Gov. Phil Murphy, permitting the NJDOL to issue stop-work orders to all work sites where an employer was found to be violating the law.
NJDOL’s Division of Wage and Hour and Contract Compliance typically enforces these powers, with the authority to halt work at any public or private worksite – both construction and non-construction – when an investigation finds evidence that an employer has violated state wage, benefit or tax laws.
Examples of violations include: misclassifying employees as independent contractors; not having appropriate workers’ compensation insurance; failing to pay prevailing wage or overtime; or paying workers partially, late, or off the books, according to NJDOL.
Since 2019, 87 of the 110 stop-work-orders involved construction sites, with 44 being public works projects. Investigations have so far led to 11 contractors being debarred from engaging in future public works jobs.
“Since the beginning of our administration, we have been dedicated to respecting, defending, and upholding the rights of all New Jersey workers, who are the lifeblood of our economy,”...
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