DOL Orders Compensation for Workers Fired Over Safety Concerns, Misclassified as Contractors

The U.S. Labor Department said it received more than $350,000 in back wages for workers at a Michigan construction company who were misclassified as contractors and for a truck driver in Virginia who was illegally fired after raising safety concerns. The department said it recovered $297,137 in back wages for 63 employees of Teracom Inc. in Saline, Michigan, a company that installs underground fiber optics for telephone and internet providers. The workers were paid a day rate instead of an hourly rate after the employer designated them as independent contractors, the department said. In addi...