Construction Wage Theft Recovery Ledger

PROBLEM: Two construction subcontractors agreed to pay $1.28 million in back wages and damages to 26 workers at the Viking Lakes mixed-use development in Eagan, Minnesota, settling the largest wage-theft case ever brought by the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. State investigators began looking into the allegations — first reported in 2022 — years before the settlement, and the workers' owed wages were only recovered after a prolonged investigation.

SOLUTION: An IBM Cloud Ideas compliance ledger that records, per construction project and subcontractor, hours worked, wages paid against the applicable rate, deductions, and any wage complaint, with a running balance of wages owed versus wages paid and an alert when a subcontractor's payroll pattern matches a prior wage-theft finding.

EVIDENCE BASIS: REPORTED — $1.28 million settlement to 26 workers at Viking Lakes, Eagan, Minnesota; largest wage recovery ever brought by the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (Minnesota Reformer reporting).