State regulators ordered a Millstone Township drywall contractor to stop work on a luxury apartment complex in Raritan after they found the company violated wage and hour laws, the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development said Wednesday.

SamPaul Contracting Inc. and nine other subcontractors on the project were cited for violations, including unpaid or late payment of wages; failure to properly classify employees; failure to pay minimum wage; and failure to obtain required insurance, the department said.

“Stop-work orders have proven to be an effective tool in protecting workers, with many employers coming into compliance with the law at the mere receipt of the notice,” Labor Commissioner Robert Asaro-Angelo said in a statement.

The contractors were working on The Enclave at Raritan, a 200-unit apartment building with a bridge that connects it to a fitness center.

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The Labor Department's Wage and Hour Division has been making unannounced visits to high-profile, residential construction projects statewide with an eye on drywall contractors. It's an industry whose subcontractors have had a pattern of paying workers off the books, in violation of state labor law, state officials said.

The practice leaves workers underpaid and at risk for injuries; shortchanges taxpayers; and puts contractors that comply with the law at a competitive disadvantage, said Bill Umbach, executive director of the Drywall & Interior Systems Contractors Association of New Jersey, a trade group that represents union wall and ceiling contractors.

A study last year by the University of California, Berkeley found one-third of New Jersey families with a member who works in construction made so little income that they qualified for a safety net program, higher than the statewide average. It cost state and federal taxpayers $325 million a year.

"There are some contractors out there that are hiring people under the table and not paying them their benefits, and at the end of the day that all comes out of our pockets," Umbach said. "The impact is not just directly the wage. There's a lot of indirect costs to you and I as residents of New Jersey."

SamPaul Contracting couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

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The Labor Department said it issued the stop-work orders on May 4 to SamPaul and nine of its subcontractors: JMR Construction LLC of North Brunswick; Ariel Drywall Corp. of Plainfield; Drywall Express LLC of Plainfield; Soft Contractor Corp. of North Brunswick; Green Master Contractor Corp. of New Brunswick; Maximum Construction Corp. of Elizabeth; Blue Contractor Corp of Elizabeth; LV Drywall Inc. of Plainfield; and ALM Drywall Inc. of Plainfield.

None of the companies appealed the orders. And none are continuing to work on The Enclave, the Labor Department said.

The department earlier this week said it found Donald Drywall LLC in Lakewood had violated wage and hour laws while working on an apartment project in Harrison. The state assessed the company $167,000 in back wages, damages, penalties, and fees.

Michael L. Diamond is a business reporter who has been writing about the New Jersey economy and health care industry for more than 20 years. He can be reached at mdiamond@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Millstone Township drywall installer must stop Raritan work over wages