A new settlement will let 24 construction workers share a record $2.35 million for back wages owed by a city sewer contractor.

Comptroller John Liu announced the deal yesterday, saying the contractor Paramount Equipment Rental Inc. had admitted a “willful violation” of the prevailing wage law, which requires that union-level wages be paid on most public projects.

Paramount was low bidder on a contract worth $9.4 million to handle debris removal when the Department of Environmental Protection was repairing water and sewer systems around the five boroughs from 2007 through 2009.