Thread: 24 S. FL Companies Closed in Sting

These companies must obviously hire illegals as they don't provide worker's compensation. I think the company names and location give it away as well.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/fl ... 2721.story

Sting closes 24 South Florida companies for lack of workers' compensation

6:36 p.m. EDT, June 10, 2010

A two-day sting has led to the closure of 70 Florida businesses — including 24 in South Florida — because of violations of the state's workers' compensation laws.

Random site visits by the state Department of Financial Services found the companies failed to provide workers' compensation insurance for their employees.

State law says construction-related companies must have workers' compensation coverage if they have one or more employee, including the owner. Other businesses must have the coverage if they have four or more employees, excluding business owners.

More than 360 liens have been filed against delinquent employers since late 2009, totaling $13.7 million.

The companies caught without the right coverage or coverage violations were issued stop-work orders, which require businesses to shut down until proper coverage is obtained and a penalty is paid.

The South Florida firms include:

In Broward, BP Paving Inc., D&D Construction Group, Ideal Roofing Systems.

In Miami-Dade, Aldo's Pool, Americans Builders and Construction, Dianza Commercial Dry Wall System, Authentic Construction, Professional Carpentry USA, GA Stone, No Drip Plumbing, JJJ Finishing Master, Built Top Building Services, Superior Wood Floor, Unlimited Ceiling Corp., Reinolds H. Castro Inc., Laura's Management, J.R.F. Florida Painting Corp., ABC Seamless Rain Gutters, Jose Ber Tile, Zepol, Allen R. Greenwald, Mercado Enterprise, Articpolo Inc., Enloe Carpentry.

Work comp and other ins. are so expensive that is why there is such a problem with illegals. It is cheaper to pay cash and report the spent money as income. One of the reasons I had to shut down.

So this is free market capitalism? Seems as though the state's appetite is insatiable.

I agree with many of the comments regarding the costs of worker's compensation insurance, too many illegals being hired etc., however, another big problem are the articles written by the press that have not been researched. The information stated in the article regarding the shut down is not accurate in all cases. Companies were lumped together with one blanket statement. A representative in the sting operation has confirmed that some of the companies were not shut down. The citations issued in some of the cases were "site specific". Companies are being harmed by these types of articles. I'm all for freedom of the press but I despise the way that reporters feel the need to pick hot topics and run with a story that is not accurate. This damages valid claims, concerns and facts regarding our HUGE immigration problems.

We should never assume what we read in the press is true and come to definitive conclusions. Some things are not so "obvious" when the information provided has obviously come from an unreliable source.

Let's check our facts. Facts keep the issues focused on valid problems that we would all like to see addressed and corrected.