Deputy Director for Labor Monitoring Unit within the Division of Economic Opportunity & Regulatory Compliance

About the Agency:

The New York City Department of Housing Preservation Development (HPD) promotes quality and affordability in the city's housing, and diversity and strength in the city’s neighborhoods because every New Yorker deserves a safe, affordable place to live in a neighborhood they love.

- We maintain building and resident safety and health

- We create opportunities for New Yorkers through housing affordability

- We engage New Yorkers to build and sustain neighborhood strength and diversity.

HPD is entrusted with fulfilling these objectives through the goals and strategies of “Housing Our Neighbors: A Blueprint for Housing and Homelessness,” Mayor Adams’ comprehensive housing framework. To support this important work, the administration has committed $5 billion in new capital funding, bringing the 10-year planned investment in housing to $22 billion the largest in the city’s history. This investment, coupled with a commitment to reduce administrative and regulatory barriers, is a multi-pronged strategy to tackle New York City’s complex housing crisis, by addressing homelessness and housing instability, promoting economic stability and mobility, increasing homeownership opportunities, improving health and safety, and increasing opportunities for equitable growth.

Your Team:

The Office of Economic Opportunity and Regulatory Compliance (EORC) lead the agency’s effort to promote inclusion and economic opportunity while also enforcing legal requirements on existing projects. The Labor Monitoring Unit (LMU) is a department within EORC and monitors affordable housing construction projects to ensure compliance with applicable federal, state, and local labor laws. LMU’s labor compliance officers analyze payroll records and make field visits to affordable housing construction sites to establish contact with laborers and mechanics in the course of performing investigations for wage theft and other labor law violations. Labor compliance officers are required to regularly make unannounced visits to construction sites, respond to tips, and investigate labor standards complaints.

The Office of Economic Opportunity and Regulatory Compliance is composed of 5 divisions:

- Labor Monitoring Unit (LMU)

- Integrity Review Unit (IRU)

- Engineering Audit Division (EAD)

- System Administration & Engagement Services (SAES)

- Economic Opportunity & Inclusionary Program (EOIP)

Your Impact:

As the Deputy Director of the Labor Monitoring Unit, you will serve under the direction of the Director for Labor Monitoring Unit with great latitude for independent judgment and decision making, liaise with state and local government entities, conduct high level policy analysis, and make recommendations pertaining to government regulations.

Duties of the Deputy Director of Labor Monitoring include responsibility for the day-today management and supervision of staff involved in important, difficult, and complex activities dealing with oversight and policy in the areas of procurement, due diligence requirements, contractual requirements, prevailing wage, and labor law enforcement.

The Deputy Director of Labor Monitoring works in close coordination with the United States Department of Labor, New York City Department of Investigations, and other enforcement entities.

Your Role:

Your role will be subject to but not limited to supervising/guiding a team of labor compliance officers monitoring for labor law compliance on affordable housing construction projects. The deputy director reviews the compliance officers’ caseloads and ensures that all necessary compliance activities are completed efficiently and on a timely basis. The Labor Monitoring Unit enforces applicable prevailing wage laws and monitors contractors subject to enhanced scrutiny. The Unit reviews payroll and related records, conducts worker interviews on job sites, and investigates possible violations. Additionally, staff calculate and issue contractor payment withholdings due to violations; authorize worker payments when underpayments are detected; authorize contractor payments; and provide technical assistance to agency staff and contractors.

Your Responsibilities:

As the deputy director of labor monitoring, you would: Guide the analysis of certified payroll to ensure accuracy and integrity. Review and analyze site visit reports, findings, and underpayment investigations. Review labor law complaints received and guided next steps. Guide investigations and review completed investigations for the Director’s review and approval. Prepare enforcement notices for the Director’s review and approval. Review computations to ensure underpayments are accurately computed. Assess underpayment cases and determine whether funds should be withheld on a project based on information collected from the labor compliance officers. Provide periodic group and individual training to labor compliance officers to ensure currency in payroll analysis and applicable standards. Distribute projects to staff based on individual capacity, expertise, and complexity of cases. Maintain a record of the site visits performed and ensure the required frequency of visits is met. Perform site visits with new compliance officers for training purposes.

Citytime attendance review and time approval. Interview candidates for vacancies and determine if they are suitable to join the unit.

Preferred skills

- A strong labor relations and compliance background.

- Expert knowledge of labor law compliance and wage theft investigation.

- Knowledge of the Davis-Bacon Act, prevailing wage and state minimum wage laws.

- Proven ability to lead staff performing investigations in the field.

- Excellent project management, organizational, analytical, quantitative and qualitative skills.

- Excellent verbal and written communication skills; strong attention to detail; presentation and interpersonal communication skills.

- Ability to assess situations and persuade with concise specific solutions.

- Bilingual

Minimum Qualification Requirements

A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college and four years of experience in one or more of the following areas: labor or industrial relations, labor research and analysis, compensation analysis, labor economics, wage theft investigation or a related area, 18 months of which must have been in an administrative, managerial, executive, consultative, or supervisory capacity.

Supervision must have included supervising staff performing professional work in wage theft investigation, labor research and analysis, compensation analysis; or work in a field directly related to labor law enforcement.

COMMUNITY COORDINATOR - 56058

1. A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college and two years of experience in community work or community centered activities in an area related to the duties described above; or
2. High school graduation or equivalent and six years of experience in community work or community centered activities in an area related to the duties as described above; or
3. Education and/or experience which is equivalent to "1" or "2" above. However, all candidates must have at least one year of experience as described in "1" above.

The City of New York is an inclusive equal opportunity employer committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and providing a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment based upon any legally protected status or protected characteristic, including but not limited to an individual's sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, gender identity, or pregnancy.