Arla Shephard Bull

Special to the Kitsap Sun

A Spokane-based company has been banned from bidding on public works projects after shorting six construction workers more than $155,000 in wages for work completed in 2015 on Faith in Action’s HUB Center for Seniors in Belfair.

Integrity Construction LLC — which in the past decade has had offices in Spokane, Seattle and Portland, Oregon — worked as a subcontractor for PHC Construction from Bainbridge Island, the prime contractor for construction on the Mason County senior center.

The workers are each owed about $25,000 for work completed between May 9, 2015, and Aug. 6, 2015, totaling $156,692.48, according to an investigation completed by the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries.

The company also owes more than $31,000 in civil penalties for failure to pay prevailing wages, false filing of a statement of intent to pay prevailing wages and failures to file an affidavit of wages paid and certified payrolls.

“Integrity vastly underpaid its employees for the work they did,” said Elizabeth Smith, assistant director for L&I’s Fraud Prevention and Labor Standards division. “By making sure contractors pay workers fairly, we are creating a level playing field for firms in the construction industry.”

The nonprofit Faith in Action received $1.86 million from the state’s capital budget to build a senior center in North Mason, which meant that contractors working on the project had to follow the state’s prevailing wage law.

For the timeframe in question, Integrity was required to pay the hourly prevailing wage rate for carpenters at $52.32 per hour. Prevailing wage law, enforced by the Department of Labor & Industries, only applies to projects that use public funds.

The L&I investigation found that the carpenters were not paid the prevailing wage rate, nor were they paid for all the hours they worked on the project or for overtime work.

Integrity did not respond to requests for comment left at multiple phone numbers for its Seattle and Spokane offices.

It’s important that nonprofits understand that using public money on a project means it’s covered under prevailing wage, Smith added.

“The law’s safeguards would have assured protection for the workers’ wages,” she said.

Faith In Action fulfilled all of its obligations under the state contract, complied with all state and federal laws while building, paid PHC Construction for work completed and worked with Labor & Industries on the investigation, said Beth Gizzi, the nonprofit’s interim executive director.

“We are saddened that there is any alleged issue with workers not being paid,” she said.

“We are an organization that supports independent living for our senior and disabled neighbors and we are saddened by any issue that takes focus off all the positive things we do in our community.”

Integrity Construction LLC will be barred from bidding on public works projects in Washington until the company pays the back wages and fines. The company’s principal is listed in L&I records as Viengkhong Hanthaley.

The company applied for its general contractor license with the Department of Labor & Industries in Spokane on April 14, 2015, but the license was suspended two months later on June 10, 2015, and expired on April 14, 2017, according to L&I records.

Another license with a Seattle address went into effect on June 24, 2015, but the company’s principals notified L&I that it went out of business, and its license was suspended Aug. 5, 2015.

The company did business as Turnkey Construction LLC in Spokane, starting Sept. 15, 2014, but that contractor license was suspended less than a year later on Feb. 25, 2015, and eventually expired as well.

The company also did business as Better Bids Construction in Tigard, Oregon, and Jade Properties as early as 2003.

Integrity Construction LLC is not the same company as Integrity Construction Group, which does similar work and is based in Tacoma.