Too many hard hats getting $crewed

The city’s five district attorneys have agreed to crack down on wage theft by construction contractors after an investigation revealed more than $1.2 million in wages were illegally withheld from workers this year.

The state Department of Labor has uncovered some 400 cases since it began looking into wage theft in January. Nearly $700,000 has been returned to stiffed workers so far, authorities said.

“Every week, New Yorkers lose $20 million in unpaid wages. And every day, construction workers who risk their lives doing dangerous jobs have to wonder whether they’ll actually be paid for their work,” Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance Jr. said Monday.

Some $150 million has been returned to workers since Gov. Cuomo launched a permanent task force on worker exploitation in July 2016.

“New York believes in a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work and has zero tolerance for those who seek to rob employees and deny them the wages they are rightfully owed,” Cuomo said Monday.

“This crackdown sends a strong and direct message that workers will be protected and the principles of fairness and equality will continue to be upheld in this great state.”

The district attorneys from Westchester and Nassau counties have also vowed to clamp down on wage cheats.

Common ways that crooked contractors withhold funds include not paying overtime, withholding final paychecks, not paying for training time, and charging employees for required equipment or uniforms, officials said.

Workers also often have to work in unsafe or unsanitary conditions.