Work services platform Handy reached a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission and New York attorney general over allegations it deceived workers. Handy denied the claims.

The settlement calls for Handy to pay $2.95 million, which would go toward refunds to workers, according to the attorney general’s office and FTC. It also calls for changes to Handy’s business aimed at ensuring workers give clear consent to any fees or fines.

“Handy Technologies relied on inflated and false earnings claims to lure workers onto its platform,” Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a press release. “It then deducted inadequately disclosed fines and fees from their wages.”

Handy disputed the claims.

“Though we were prepared to litigate, we chose to enter into an agreement with these parties to put this matter to rest and get back to putting our 100% focus on supporting our customers: the small businesses who help Americans care for and maintain their homes,” a Handy spokesperson said in a statement to SIA. “None of the agencies’ allegations were fair, and this settlement should in no way be construed as a validation of their allegations.” 

The company provides workers for jobs such as cleaning homes, assembling furniture and doing home repair projects. It was acquired by Angi (NASDAQ: ANGI) in 2018.

One allegation by the FTC and attorney general: Despite advertising that workers would be paid “as soon as the job is done,” Handy would require workers to pay an additional fee and complete another job on the platform before paying them. Otherwise, workers would receive the money seven days after the work was done by default.

The company also advertised earnings that workers could not reasonably expect to be paid, according to the FTC.

Handy advertised pay of “at least” or “up to” rates that are only accessible to workers who successfully move into the highest pay tier offered, according to the agency. That tier requires meeting targets for number of jobs completed and customer ratings that a vast majority are unable to achieve, the FTC said. These wage claims were made in New York, New Jersey and California. In other areas, the FTC said Handy advertised pay for handyman/furniture assembly jobs as high as $45 per hour even when more than 90% of workers made less with the average at more than $20 or less.

Another allegation: Handy advertised lawn care jobs paying as much as $62 an hour when that rate was made by less than 10% of workers, according to the FTC.

The agency also said Handy charged fees and fines that it did not adequately disclose. In one example, the company fines workers $50 when the customer tells the worker not to show up but doesn’t properly cancel the job in Handy’s system. The FTC reported this has happened thousands of times. In order to avoid such a fine, the FTC said workers must follow a time-consuming procedure that includes giving GPS permission to Handy’s app and waiting more than 30 minutes at the site.

The FTC vote authorizing the staff to file the complaint and stipulated final order was 5-0 with Commissioner Andrew Ferguson issuing a statement concurring in part and dissenting in part. Commissioner Melissa Holyoak concurred but dissented on two counts in the lawsuit, one of misrepresentations regarding earnings and one of violations of prior commission determinations known to the defendant.