Sacramento—The Labor Commissioner’s Office collected $1,331,682 in wages and penalties, resulting from a prevailing wage assessment against Bakersfield-based subcontractor Grant Construction, Inc. The wages collected will compensate 27 workers for unpaid prevailing wages while working on a farmworker housing construction project in the City of Wasco in Kern County. The public works investigation determined that wage theft had occurred in the form of kickbacks and non-reporting of all hours worked. It found that a Grant Construction crew leader would collect the paychecks of the 27 workers, sign and cash them, and then pay the workers significantly less than the amount listed on their checks.  (Read more)