'You are cheating your workers and the taxpayers'

A subsidiary of Edwards Communities runs afoul of labor enforcement in New York State. The company, whose rezoning request to build a mega-student apartment complex in Greensboro’s College Hill neighborhood near UNCG was approved by the Greensboro City Council earlier this year, is accused of underpaying workers and misclassifying employees, resulting in lost tax revenue.

The project that is the target of the New York Labor Department’s crackdown is called the Province at RIT. Located near the campus of the Rochester Institute of Technology, the New York State project bears at least a couple similarities to the nascent project in Greensboro, starting with its name.

New York State Labor Commissioner Colleen Gardner: “The problem of employers misclassifying workers as independent contractors or paying them ‘off-the-books’ is happening statewide. My message to those employers, whether you are from New York or another state, is: ‘You are cheating your workers and the taxpayers, and undercutting honest businesses. We are looking for you — and the chances that you will get caught have never been better.’”

An interesting consideration: Temporary construction jobs and tax-base were at least part of the Greensboro City Council's reason for approving the Greensboro project.

Question: Would the NC Department of Labor take such an aggressive approach to enforcement to protect workers and taxpayers?