Director of Labor Monitoring Unit

Job Description

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) leads 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 Director of the Labor Monitoring Unit, you will serve under the direction of the Executive Director for Regulatory Compliance 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 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 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 to manage the daily operations of the Labor Monitoring Unit (LMU). 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 director of labor monitoring, you would: Guide and train deputy directors in methods and techniques of wage theft investigation. Review documentation of completed wage theft investigations submitted by deputies for final approval. Represent the unit and the agency by communicating notices of wage underpayments to general contractors and relevant parties. Refer disputed wage theft findings to HUD for arbitration. Review prevailing wage compliance on construction projects and determine the dollar amounts of project funds to be withheld. Communicate with relevant program areas to initiate the withholding of project funds. Represent the agency and LMU during collaboration with other agencies for joint enforcement activities. Review labor law complaints received and delegate next steps to deputies. Serve as a source of knowledge regarding local