Electric Company Pleads Guilty to Stiffing Local Workers

A Locust Valley electric company pleaded guilty Thursday for failing to pay six employees the state-required prevailing wage they were entitled for various projects including one at .

Anker’s Electric Service, Inc. pleaded guilty to misdemeanor failing to pay wages to its employees, which includes restitution in the amount of $149,557 and almost $16,000 in fines.

Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said that between 2008 and 2011, Anker’s Electric underpaid six employees on various electrical maintenance and repair contracts with the Town of North Hempstead and the Village of Garden City, and on the installation of new outdoor lighting stanchions at Wantagh Park, Eisenhower Park in East Meadow and Nickerson Beach Park in Lido Beach. Rice said that due to the fact that these were public works projects, Anker’s Electric was obligated under Article 8 of the Labor Law to pay its employees in accordance with the prevailing wage rate of pay. Instead, the company underpaid six employees by as much as $17 per hour and a total of nearly $150,000.

“When businesses cheat their employees out of hard-earned wages, my office’s Labor Unit will be there to ensure that those businesses are held accountable and that workers receive their fair share,” Rice said.

Anker’s Electric Service's attorney Bob Schalk said there was no intentional wrong doing from his client.

"It was a clerical error," he said. "All employees have been compensated."