ELMWOOD PARK, ILLINOIS, MASONRY COMPANY ORDERED TO PAY MORE THAN $104K IN BACK WAGES, DAMAGES TO 20 WORKERS MISCLASSIFIED AS INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

WHD News Release: 05/19/2016
Release Number: 16-0876-CHI

Type of Action: Fair Labor Standards Act consent judgment

Defendant(s): Expertize Masonry Inc., Pawel Walaszek

Investigation Findings: An investigation conducted by the department’s Wage and Hour Division found that Elmwood Park, Illinois-based Expertize Masonry Inc., and Walaszek violated the Fair Labor Standards Act’s minimum wage, overtime and recordkeeping provisions when they misclassified employees working as laborers, masonry workers, crew leaders and foreman on masonry jobs in the Chicago area as independent contractors.

Investigators found the misclassification resulted in workers receiving less than the legally required federal minimum wage, and led to the employer’s failure to pay the workers overtime when they worked more than 40 hours in a workweek. Additionally, the employer failed to maintain accurate time records as required by the FLSA.

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Working to Stop Wage Theft

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

6-6-16
By Michael Hill, Correspondent

Felix Lema said a construction job boss stole his wages.

Make the Road New Jersey recently helped him recover some of his pay.

“I had been owed wages for a long time by my employer. I asked him everyday please pay me, please pay me. One day he said you need to go home now you need to stop asking me and he gave me a ride home. Instead of taking me home he drove me to the Elizabeth Immigration Detention Center where the threat was deportation,” said Sara Cullinane, state director of Make the Road New Jersey who was translating Lemas’ words.

…

The Senate Labor Committee just approved Senate bill 1396. It would allow wage theft victims to have their claims not only heard by the state Labor Department but in municipal and superior courts, allow disorderly persons’ charges against violators and increase the statute of limitations to recover unpaid wages from two to six years.

New Jersey Working Families – the same organization behind raising the minimum wage – is leading the charge on wage theft protection.

“We have to make sure that every worker actually receives compensation,” said New Jersey Working Families Executive Director Analilia Mejia.

(Read More)

Coalition forms to combat wage theft

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

By Barb Kucera, Workday Minnesota
June 5, 2016

MINNEAPOLIS – Several Minnesota labor and community organizations are forming a coalition to combat the growing problem of wage theft that costs workers millions of dollars every year.

The coalition will hold its first meeting Tuesday, June 7, from 3 to 4 p.m. at the offices of CTUL, Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en Lucha/Center of Workers United in Struggle, 2511 E. Franklin St., Minneapolis. Interested organizations are encouraged to send a representative.

Groups in the coalition include CTUL , a Minneapolis-based worker center; North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters; Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation; SEIU Healthcare Minnesota; SEIU State Council and the University of Minnesota Labor Education Service, which publishes Workday Minnesota.

Formation of the coalition was prompted by Workday’s recent series exposing the many forms of wage theft and discussing possible solutions.

(Read More)

18th Annual NAFC Conference – Vendor and Sponsorship Opportunities Available

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

July 1, 2016

Support the National Alliance for Fair Contracting (NAFC) by becoming a sponsor for next year’s 18th Annual NAFC Conference or request a vendor space in our exhibit space.

Becoming a sponsor is easy. We offer sponsorships at various levels, allowing you to choose your level of support for NAFC and its efforts while promoting your organization.

Exhibit space for vendors can be a key asset at a time when decision-makers are eager to learn about products and services.

Please contact NAFC Administrator Geoffrey Griffith if you are interested in further information.

NAFC Main Office: 866-523-6232

*Limited spaces are available. Inquire within for pricing. Sponsors and vendors will be approved at the discretion of the NAFC Board of Directors.

(Visit NAFC’s Conference Page)

(Visit NAFC’s Website)

Registration now open – 18th Annual NAFC Conference – San Diego, CA – Oct. 17 – 19, 2016

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

May 26, 2016

NAFC will be holding its Annual Conference in San Diego, CA this year. The Conference will be held at the Hilton San Diego Resort and Spa on Mission Bay, just outside downtown San Diego. This year’s Conference will be jointly sponsored by the Center for Contract Compliance and will have both a national and California state specific focus. The NAFC National Conference is attended by several hundred participants from across the nation, including representatives from labor organizations, fair contractors, fair contracting compliance organizations as well as researchers, academics, attorneys and officials from federal, state and local governments.

Register today, spaces are limited.

(Visit NAFC’s Conference Page)

(Download your registration form here)

USDOL Prevailing Wage Seminars for 2016

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Join us at a Prevailing Wage Seminar in your region!

The Wage and Hour Division (WHD) Prevailing Wage Seminars (Prevailing Wage Seminars) are three-day compliance trainings designed for regional stakeholders (unions, private contractors, state agencies, federal agencies and workers). In these seminars, conference participants will learn about the following:

  • The Davis-Bacon Act and McNamara O’Hara Service Contract Act
  • Executive Order 13495 “Nondisplacement of Qualified Workers”
  • Executive Order 13658 “Establishing a Minimum Wage for Contractors”
  • The process of obtaining wage determinations and adding classifications
  • Compliance assistance and enforcement processes
  • The process for appealing wage rates, coverage, and compliance determinations
There is no fee to attend these seminars; however, space is limited. If you wish to attend, please click on the registration link for your desired location and follow the registration prompts. Each attendee must register separately. If registration is not yet open for the event you wish to attend, please check back. Please feel free to email WHDPWS@dol.gov if you have any questions.

Date                                 Location

June 7 -9, 2016                Stamford, CT
June 14 – 16, 2016           Albuquerque, NM

August 23 – 25, 2016       Portland, OR

For more information regarding the upcoming prevailing wage seminars, as well as information on the DBA and SCA visit http://www.dol.gov/whd/govcontracts or call the Wage and Hour Division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243).

Attacks On Prevailing Wage Laws Disproportionally Hurt Veterans

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Report Finds That As Hundreds Of Thousands Of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Enter Work Force, Prevailing Wage Greatly Improves Economic Outcomes For Veterans

May 10, 2016 – Posted by Frank Manzo IV

A first-of-its-kind study released on May 10, 2016 finds that prevailing wage greatly improves economic outcomes for veterans and that growing attacks on prevailing wage at the state level will disproportionally hurt the hundreds of thousands post-9/11 veterans who are returning to the workforce.

Exploring of the economic impact of state prevailing wage laws on veterans in the construction industry, the study was commissioned by VoteVets, the largest progressive group of veterans in America. The study was conducted by Frank Manzo IV of the Illinois Economic Policy Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Professor Robert Bruno, and Colorado State University-Pueblo Economist, Dr. Kevin Duncan.

“The data clearly shows that veterans work in the skilled construction trades at significantly higher rates than non-veterans,” said Manzo. “The difference is even more pronounced in states with average or strong prevailing wage policies-so any changes in these laws will have an outsized impact on those who have served in the military.”

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(PDF of Study)

(Copy of Summary)

Arthur Butler has spent decades shining a light on wage theft (MA)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Monday, May 30, 2016
By DAN CROWLEY

NORTHAMPTON – Art Butler knows a thing or two about wage theft and the misclassification of workers in the construction industry.

As an inspector for the former state Department of Labor and Industries in the 1970s and ’80s, and attorney general’s office in the ’90s, he’s been shining a light on violators for decades.

At 78, Butler is still roving western Massachusetts, interviewing workers at job sites and mining payroll records, continuing a decades-long effort to stamp out fraud and protect not only workers but also companies that play by the rules.

“There’s a lot of it out there,” says Butler, who has spent the last 16 years with the Foundation for Fair Contracting of Massachusetts, a nonprofit watchdog group that targets wage theft and compliance with public bidding laws in the commonwealth. “What we try to do is keep it honest.”

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Add your name: Strong prevailing wage laws improve the lives of veterans and military families

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

votevets.org

Many of the veterans who come back from war return to blue-collar construction jobs or open a contracting business that benefit substantially from prevailing wage laws. In 2014, more than 400,000 veterans held such jobs.

Prevailing wage is like minimum wage for skilled construction workers and ensures those veterans can provide a good life for their families. Overturning those laws would drive thousands of Illinois veterans below the poverty line and into a crippling spiral of debt. Our nation’s heroes deserve better than that from our elected officials.

…

(Read More)

(PDF of Fact Sheet)

Final Rule: Overtime

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales and Computer Employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act

On May 18, 2016, President Obama and Secretary Perez announced the publication of the Department of Labor’s final rule updating the overtime regulations, which will automatically extend overtime pay protections to over 4 million workers within the first year of implementation. This long-awaited update will result in a meaningful boost to many workers’ wallets, and will go a long way toward realizing President Obama’s commitment to ensuring every worker is compensated fairly for their hard work.

In 2014, President Obama signed a Presidential Memorandum directing the Department to update the regulations defining which white collar workers are protected by the FLSA’s minimum wage and overtime standards. Consistent with the President’s goal of ensuring workers are paid a fair day’s pay for a hard day’s work, the memorandum instructed the Department to look for ways to modernize and simplify the regulations while ensuring that the FLSA’s intended overtime protections are fully implemented.

(Read More)