Steve Limtiaco

Pacific Daily News USA TODAY Network

The Hong Kong-based developer of Saipan’s Imperial Pacific Resort Hotel and Casino has been ordered to pay $3.16 million in back wages and damages to about 1,100 employees and $200,000 in penalties, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, which investigated wage violations related to the casino’s construction.

According to the Labor Department, foreign subcontractors working on the project paid some of their employees less than minimum wage and failed to pay overtime to those who worked more than 40 hours a week. The findings were the result of an investigation covering Jan. 22, 2016 to Dec. 19, 2017.

More:Construction workers sue company hired to build Imperial Pacific casino

More:Saipan casino contractors to pay $13.9 million to workers in settlements

A consent judgment was issued April 11 in the U.S. District Court for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, ordering the payment by Imperial Pacific International Holdings and its subsidiary in the CNMI.

“In addition to providing $3,360,000 in unpaid wages, liquidated damages, and penalties, this judgment orders the defendants to adhere to an independent monitoring mechanism, and to take additional steps to safeguard the wages and working conditions of employees,” said Labor Department Regional Solicitor Janet Herold. “Regardless of where work is performed in the U.S. or its territories, the U.S. Department of Labor will continue to fully and fairly enforce the law and provide a level playing field for employers.”

The company already paid the Labor Department $300,000 under the judgment, according to court documents, and must pay the remaining $3.06 million in three installments, due the first day of December 2019, 2020, and 2021.

An independent monitor – Burger, Comer and Magliari – will be paid $90,000 by the company to monitor the company’s compliance with wage laws for the next year.

The company also must require its contractors to deposit $100,000, or a month’s payroll – whichever is greater - into an escrow account to cover back wages in the event violations are discovered by the monitor or others.

Series of settlements

The latest judgment brings to $17.3 million the amount of back wages, damages and penalties related to the casino’s construction.

The Labor Department in March 2018 announced a series of settlements with contractors totaling $13.9 million in back wages and damages, also related to the failure to pay minimum wage and overtime to foreign construction workers.

Some of those contractors illegally brought construction workers from China to Saipan as tourists, without proper work visas, to work on the casino, according to the Labor Department.

READ MORE:

Raymond and Juanita Martinez take plea deals in California meth case, faces 4 years in prison

Police searching for 3 wanted in connection with string of robberies