Wage theft case hits construction company

Newport Beach contractor SCA General Contracting must repay $468,505 to 137 workers and reinstate a fired employee after a federal probe found wage theft and retaliation.

A California construction company has been ordered to pay back $468,505 in wages and damages to 137 workers after a federal investigation.

Newport Beach-based SCA General Contracting withheld minimum wages and overtime pay between November 2024 and November 2025. And fired a worker who complained about pay conditions, Construction Dive reports.

A federal court has approved a settlement requiring the company to repay the wages and reinstate the dismissed employee.

Wage theft is a recurring problem in the US construction industry, particularly on projects with multiple layers of subcontractors and low-wage workers.

– Wage theft persists in construction because work is often pushed through layers of subcontractors, where intense price competition and thin margins create incentives to cut corners on pay, says Jenn Round, director of the Workplace Justice Lab at Northwestern University.

The issue is not limited to the US. Long subcontracting chains have also been a contentious issue across Europe, with proposals to legislate limits on subcontracting layers reaching EU level, though ultimately not adopted.