A Georgia roofing subcontractor faces fines after a teenager he employed fell 25 feet from a roof at a Pennsylvania construction site. An investigation revealed that the company had underpaid its workers, including overtime.
According to a press release from the US Department of Labor, JVS Roofing of Jonesboro, Georgia, hired a 17-year-old to do roofing work, a job considered dangerous for young workers under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The teenager fell 24 feet from the roof of a hardware store in New Castle, Pennsylvania, in October 2022, suffering minor injuries after the fall.
“Allowing a child to work on a roof is irresponsible and a violation of federal safety laws,” said Brendan Claybaugh, OSHA area director in Erie, Pennsylvania. “The fall hazard is well known to employers and it continues to be a leading cause of serious injury and death in the construction industry. There is simply no place for such reckless behavior.”
A subsequent investigation by the department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration found that JVS Roofing had failed to provide its employees with required fall protection, had failed to offer appropriate training, and had allowed employees to work without a fall protection system installed.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued the company a citation for four serious safety violations and proposed a $16,500 fine, which the company has already paid. Mid-South Contractors —
The company, which does business under the name Mid-South Roof Systems in Forest Park, Georgia, hired JVS Roofing to perform roofing work on the roof of the Lowe's store in New Castle at the time of the teenager's injuries.
The injured juvenile worker is one of 688 minors the department found employed in hazardous occupations during its investigations in fiscal year 2022, the highest annual number since fiscal year 2011.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that there were 123 deaths in the roofing industry in 2021, 99 of which were due to falls, slips or trips. OSHA's Stop Falls website provides safety information and video presentations in English and Spanish to educate workers about fall hazards and proper safety procedures.
Overtime owed
Further investigation by the department's Wage and Hour Section into the employer's pay practices revealed that JVS had falsely classified 30 workers as independent contractors. As a result, the employer unlawfully exempted them from overtime pay for working more than 40 hours per week. The department also learned that JVS did not maintain complete and accurate payroll records.
The department recovered $92,640 in back wages for the affected workers and obtained payment from the employer of a civil penalty of $6,399 imposed on it for violating the Child Labor Law.
“JVS Roofing ignored federal child labor laws and hired an underage employee to perform prohibited roofing work,” said John DuMont, Pittsburgh district manager of the Wage and Hour Division. “Upon reviewing this incident, our investigators determined that the employer had defrauded workers of an average of $3,000 per employee in overtime by falsely classifying them as independent contractors.”
Earlier this month, OSHA announced it had fined Florida-based JGN Services LLC after a 15-year-old minor fell about 20 feet from the roof of a two-story home. The roofing company was also found liable for violations of the Fair Labor Standard Act's minimum wage and overtime regulations. OSHA issued the employer three serious violations in July 2022 with penalties of $8,702 and a civil penalty of $55,841 under the Child Labor Enhanced Penalty Program and sought $106,600 in back wages and damages for 18 workers.
