More than 300 employees at 4 NYC plumbing companies to get back wages, damages in settlement

More than 300 former and current employees at four plumbing and heating contractors in Queens will share $1.4 million in back wages and damages as part of a settlement between the company owners and the federal Department of Labor.

The Labor Department had accused the companies, all owned by the same three people, of not paying proper overtime and not keeping proper records.

The department said the companies improperly classified some workers as independent contractors instead of employees. There also were frequent delays in getting wages to employees.

The attorney representing the owners and the companies did not return a call seeking comment. The companies involved were Danica Group LLC; Copper Plumbing & Heating, LLC; Copper II Plumbing & heating LLC, and Copper III Plumbing & Heating LLC. The owners are Thomas Andreadakis, Leonidas Andreadakis, and Helen Andreadakis.

The agreement calls for the workers to be paid a total of $710,000 in back wages for September 2010 through April 2014 along with $710,000 in damages.

Settlement amount totals vary from employee to employee, ranging from less than $100 to several thousand dollars.

The settlement was filed in federal court in Brooklyn on April 10.