Contractor to pay workers restitution for violating wage ordinance
By Harold McNeil | Published September 27, 2017 | Updated September 28, 2017

The State Attorney General's Office Wednesday announced a $69,000 settlement with a commercial waste management company in Buffalo that failed to pay living wage to 16 workers employed at the company's recycling facility.

Allied Waste Services of North America will pay the settlement as restitution to the employees for having failed to pay them the city's living wage of $11.63 per hour, officials said.

Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman's office began an investigation after the Buffalo Living Wage Commission determined in July 2016 that Allied was not in compliance with the city ordinance that requires contractors to pay a living wage to specific groups of employees, including in waste management services.

Allied had entered into a waste management contract with the city for recycling collection and processing from 2012 to 2017, officials said.

Schneiderman said attempts by city contractors to circumvent the living wage rule end up costing others thousands of dollars in wages.

The Attorney General's Office has recovered nearly $30 million in stolen wages for over 21,000 workers across the state, according to Schneiderman.