The state Labor Department has issued stop work orders at 18 ShopRite, Stop and Shop, and Whole Foods locations in Connecticut after receiving wage complaints from several workers employed by the cleaning contractors for these stores.
Employees from the labor department’s Wage and Workplace Standards Division visited stores throughout the state (see list below) and determined that the cleaning contractors did not have Connecticut workers’ compensation coverage or unemployment coverage.
The contractors were also cited for incorrectly treating their employees as independent contractors. A total of 23 employees were providing cleaning services at the stores.
According to State Labor Commissioner Scott D. Jackson, contractors Paraiba Cleaning Corporation of Worcester, Mass., and USD Cleaning LLC of Hartford, were issued the stop work orders. DOL investigators visited the stores the night of July 19 after receiving complaints that the employees had not been paid properly or were owed wages for working overtime. A labor department statement said investigators, upon interviewing the employees, determined that some were working seven days a week and receiving no overtime.
Jackson said not only were the employees being taken advantage of, but the contractors were not paying the proper payroll taxes or providing unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation.
Contact information for the two contractors was not immediately available.
When a stop work order is issued the company is able to resume work when it can provide proof that all deficiencies have been corrected. Under state law, according to the labor department, companies are fined $300 per worker per day for those days it has operated in violation.
Store Locations
- ShopRite, 10 Albany Turnpike, Canton
- ShopRite, 46 Kane Street, West Hartford
- Stop and Shop, 1235 Farmington Ave., West Hartford
- Stop and Shop, 215 Glastonbury Blvd., Glastonbury
- Stop and Shop, 318 West Middle Turnpike, Manchester
- Stop and Shop, 940 Silver Lane, East Hartford
- Stop and Shop, 80 Town Line Road, Rocky Hill
- Stop and Shop, 150 New Park Ave., Hartford
- Stop and Shop, 931 Torrington Street, Torrington
- Stop and Shop, 211 High Street, Torrington
- Stop and Shop, 498 Bushy Hill Rd., Simsbury
- Stop and Shop, 1739 Ellington Road, South Windsor
- Stop and Shop, 215 East Main Street, Clinton
- Stop and Shop, 128 Samson Rock Road, Madison
- Stop and Shop, 200 New Hartford Road, Winsted
- Whole Foods, 50 Raymond Rd., West Hartford
- Whole Foods, 340 N. Main Street, West Hartford
- Whole Foods, 55 Welles Street, Glastonbury
