Columbus council creates advisory committee for diversity hiring on construction projects

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New panel to recommend city diversity targets on union construction projects costing over $5 million

Bill Bush | The Columbus Dispatch
Nov. 15, 2022

The Columbus City Council on Monday created a nine-member committee designed to make recommendations on adding goals for hiring female, minority and local workers on larger city construction projects that utilize “project labor agreements,” which are pre-hire agreements with trade unions.

The new Community Benefits Agreement Advisory Committee will make nonbinding recommendations to the mayor on when such inclusion goals should be sought from construction companies and labor unions. But it doesn’t appear the city will have to worry about unwelcome proposals: four of the nine members will represent the mayor’s office or various departments under the mayor, while the fifth and deciding member will represent City Council.

The other four committee members will represent trade unions and “groups historically underrepresented” in the construction industry, the ordinance says.

The committee can also review plans and make recommendations on how newly constructed facilities get used, and on mitigation of the effects of construction on the neighborhood. It can make recommendations on dedicating green space, sports courts and occasional uses of the new space for art or youth programming, the ordinance says.

“This new chapter will promote a diverse workforce, efficient construction timelines, greater consideration of environmental impacts, and overall community benefits related to large city construction projects and renovation projects,” Council member Rob Dorans, who is employed as an attorney for a labor union, said during the meeting.

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US Department of Labor Announces Proposed Rule on Classifying Employees, Independent Contractors; Seeks to Return to Longstanding Interpretation

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Agency: Wage and Hour Division
Date: October 11, 2022
Release Number: 22-1526-NAT

Misclassification continues to deny workers’ rightful wages; hurt businesses, economy

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor will publish a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Oct. 13 to help employers and workers determine whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The proposed rule would provide guidance on classifying workers and seeks to combat employee misclassification. Misclassification is a serious issue that denies workers’ rights and protections under federal labor standards, promotes wage theft, allows certain employers to gain an unfair advantage over law-abiding businesses, and hurts the economy at-large.

The NPRM proposes a framework more consistent with longstanding judicial precedent on which employers have relied to classify workers as employees or independent contractors under the FLSA. The department believes the new rule would preserve essential worker rights and provide consistency for regulated entities.

“While independent contractors have an important role in our economy, we have seen in many cases that employers misclassify their employees as independent contractors, particularly among our nation’s most vulnerable workers,” said Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh. “Misclassification deprives workers of their federal labor protections, including their right to be paid their full, legally earned wages. The Department of Labor remains committed to addressing the issue of misclassification.”

Specifically, the proposed rule would do the following:

  • Align the department’s approach with courts’ FLSA interpretation and the economic reality test.
  • Restore the multifactor, totality-of-the-circumstances analysis to determine whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor under the FLSA.
  • Ensure that all factors are analyzed without assigning a predetermined weight to a particular factor or set of factors.
  • Revert to the longstanding interpretation of the economic reality factors. These factors include the investment, control and opportunity for profit or loss factors. The integral factor, which considers whether the work is integral to the employer’s business, is also included.
  • Assist with the proper classification of employees and independent contractors under the FLSA.
  • Rescind the 2021 Independent Contractor Rule.

The department is responsible for ensuring that employers do not misclassify FLSA-covered workers as independent contractors and deprive them of their legal wage and hour protections. Misclassification denies basic worker protections such as minimum wage and overtime pay and affects a wide range of workers in the home care, janitorial services, trucking, delivery, construction, personal services, and hospitality and restaurant industries, among others.

Before publication of today’s proposed rulemaking, the department’s Wage and Hour Division considered feedback shared by stakeholders in forums during the summer of 2022 and will now solicit comments on the proposed rule from interested parties. The division encourages all stakeholders to participate in the regulatory process. Comments, which must be submitted from Oct. 13 to Nov. 28, 2022, should be submitted online or in writing to the Division of Regulations, Legislation and Interpretation, Wage and Hour Division, U.S. Department of Labor, Room S-3502, 200 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20210.

Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division.

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Gov. Carney signs wage theft and other labor protection bills into law

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Delaware Public Media | By Paul Kiefer
Published October 10, 2022

Gov. John Carney signed a bill into law on Friday defining wage theft as a crime and setting financial penalties for violators.

The new wage theft law is one of the most detailed in the country, targeting an array of strategies used by employers to avoid paying taxes or underpay workers. Its sponsor, State Sen. Jack Walsh (D-Christiana/Newark), says wage theft, including misclassifying workers as part-time or contractors, is widespread and often leaves workers without access to key benefits.

“Having them work off-the-clock, paying them under the table – which presents problems down the road because they can’t access worker’s compensation or unemployment,” he said. “Basically, they’re misclassifying people, 1099-ing them, when they’re actual employees and should be treated as such.”

Delaware’s Department of Labor is responsible for investigating wage theft allegations and can refer cases to the Department of Justice for prosecution.

The law also sets financial penalties, including fines between $20,000 and $50,000 for retaliating against employees who report wage theft.

Carney also signed a bill into law on Friday that holds employers liable for damages if they do not provide a paycheck within one pay period after an employee is laid off or discharged, or after the employee resigns or quits.

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IRS Requests Comments on Various Aspects of Energy Tax Credits

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JD Supra | Oct. 6, 2022

On October 5, 2022, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued six notices requesting comments on various aspects of extensions and enhancements of energy tax benefits in the Inflation Reduction Act. Here is list of, and links to, the notices.

  • Notice 2022-46 requests comments on credits for clean vehicles.
  • Notice 2022-47 requests comments on energy security tax credits for manufacturing.
  • Notice 2022-48 requests comments on incentive provisions for improving the energy efficiency of residential and commercial buildings.
  • Notice 2022-49 requests for comments on certain energy generation incentives.
  • Notice 2022-50 requests comments on elective payment of applicable credits and transfer of certain credits.
  • Notice 2022-51 requests comments on prevailing wage, apprenticeship, domestic content, and energy communities requirements.

Rep. Galloway Introduces Bill To Fight Wage Theft

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Levittownnow.com – by Staff – Sept. 17, 2022

A new bill in the wake of recommendations from the Joint Task Force on Misclassification of Employees has been introduced by local State Rep. John Galloway.

Galloway, a Democrat from Falls Township introduced H.B. 2810 in Harrisburg this week with fellow Democratic state representatives Joanna McClinton, of Philadelphia and Delaware counties, and Pat Harkins, of Erie County.

Galloway’s office said the bill proposes the following measures:

  • Cover all workers to protect them from wage theft.
  • Take away the licenses of businesses who steal wages and cheat the system.
  • Give the Department of Labor and Industry more resources to chase down the cheaters.
  • Make cheaters face heavy fines – the companies who made an honest mistake will get a chance to make things right, but the ones who knowingly steal from workers will get hit the hardest.
  • Align with the effort to end corporate price gouging and give the attorney general more power to investigate and charge companies taking advantage of the system.

The Joint Task Force on Misclassification of Employees, which was established under a bill drafted by Galloway and passed in 2020, issued recommendations in a report in 2022 that served as the foundation for the legislation.

“Misclassification of employees occurs when a business wrongfully classifies a worker as an independent contractor even though the nature, type and oversight of their work determines they should be considered an employee under the law. Misclassification can impact industries from home health care to construction to online businesses, like Uber and Lyft drivers,” Galloway’s office explained.

“For years, I’ve been fighting to end corporate price gouging on workers in the commonwealth,” Galloway said. “Too many companies are cooking the books and using dirty tricks to take money out of the hands of workers and put it into stock buybacks, shareholder dividends, and corporate executive perks instead of putting the money back into the communities. When HB 2810 is passed, Pennsylvania’s workers will have the wages and the workplace protections they rightfully deserve, and our working families and communities will be safer and stronger for it.”

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OFCCP Extends Deadline for EEO-1 Data FOIA Objections

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The National Law Review
Thursday, September 15, 2022

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has extended the deadline for federal contractors and first-tier subcontractors to submit objections to a broad Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed by an investigative reporter. The new deadline for filing objections is October 19, 2022.

On August 19, 2022, OFCCP published notice of a FOIA request seeking Type 2 Consolidated EEO-1 Report data filed by federal contractors and first-tier subcontractors for reporting years 2016 through 2020. The original deadline for objections was September 19, 2022. Contractors now have until October 19, 2022, to submit written objections through OFCCP’s Submitter Notice Response Portal, or by mail or email. According to OFCCP, it is extending the deadline “to ensure that Covered Contractors have time to ascertain whether they are covered and submit objections.” OFCCP also announced that it will “take the additional step of emailing contractors that OFCCP believes are covered by this FOIA request, using the email address provided by contractors that have registered in OFCCP’s Contractor Portal and the email addresses provided as a contact for the EEO-1 report.” If OFCCP does not receive an objection by October 19, 2022, information for contractors covered by the FOIA request will be released.

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City council passes ordinances to protect workers’ rights

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by Malea Martin / Mountain View Voice
Uploaded: Wed, Sep 14, 2022

Employees in Mountain View will soon have increased labor protections thanks to a pair of ordinances passed by the city council Tuesday night – though some members of the public raised concerns that the ordinances don’t go far enough to protect workers on the city’s own projects.

The Wage Theft and Responsible Construction ordinances first came to the council in October 2021 as a study session item. Nearly a year later, the council had its first reading of the ordinances at its Aug. 30 meeting before passing the ordinances with a few adjustments at its Sept. 13 meeting.

The purpose of the ordinances is “to help ensure accountability and compliance with existing state wage and hour laws, enhance the protection of workers’ rights, and support the city’s existing minimum wage ordinance,” said Christina Gilmore, assistant to the city manager, at the Aug. 30 meeting.

In the case of the Wage Theft Ordinance, staff proposed that the business license process be used to connect with Mountain View employers and seek compliance with state wage and hour laws, according to the council report from the Aug. 30 meeting.

“As part of this process, all businesses would be required to submit an affidavit attesting that the business does not have any unsatisfied labor law judgments or orders,” the report said, and the city would investigate potentially false attestations on a complaint basis.

Similarly, for the Responsible Construction Ordinance, staff in 2021 proposed using the city’s building permit process to achieve wage protections for workers employed in construction projects. Owners, contractors and subcontractors on projects at and above 15,000 square feet would be required to submit a Pay Transparency Acknowledgement form at the beginning of the permit application process, and then a second Pay Attestation form before reaching the end of the project.

After the 2021 study session, staff made a few adjustments before bringing the ordinances back to council for the first reading on Aug. 30. For instance, businesses with no employees would be exempt from the wage theft ordinance requirements. Staff also incorporated stronger consequences for non-compliance with the Responsible Construction ordinance, such as the certificate of occupancy being withheld for failure to submit the form or in the case of a sustained complaint of wage theft.

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Illinois accuses Bridgeview construction company of stealing wages from union carpenters

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Chicago Sun Times – By Mitch Dudek Sept 2, 2022

Drive Construction allegedly funneled payments to carpenters through sham subcontractors to pay less than what the state’s overtime and prevailing wage laws require

A Bridgeview-based construction company is accused of wage theft and using an elaborate scheme to underpay dozens of union carpenters, according to a lawsuit filed by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office.

Between 2015 and 2020, Drive Construction Inc. obtained contracts for public works projects in the Chicago area, such as schools and public housing apartments, worth nearly $40 million, according to the lawsuit. The contracts required Drive to pay its carpenters, who are represented by the Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council, Illinois-mandated prevailing wages.

But Drive funneled payments to carpenters through sham subcontractors to pay the carpenters less than what the state’s overtime and prevailing wage laws require and to dodge the cost of other legally required benefits and protections, according to the lawsuit filed Thursday in Cook County Circuit Court.

“Drive passed money through two layers of sham subcontractors before using its construction foremen to distribute those payments to workers on Drive’s projects as a flat, per-week payment,” the suit alleges. “This multitiered funneling of wage payments enabled Drive to make it look like the workers were not Drive’s employees — when, in fact and by law, they were.”

Payments were typically made in cash or by money order to avoid traceability and did not reflect the overtime and prevailing wage rates that they should have, according to the suit.

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‘Stop Work Order’ Signs Posted On Controversial Building Trades High School Construction Site

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By MARK J. BONAMO AND TOM WIEDMANN
Published – September 8, 2022

NEWARK, NJ — State Department of Labor and Workforce Development officials have posted “Stop-Work Order” signs on the construction site of the new Newark High School of Architecture & Interior Design.

Work at the site appeared to come to a halt Thursday, except for some cleanup work activity. DOL officials said that stop-work orders were issued to the general contractor and subcontractor performing work at 155 Jefferson St., and to the developer of the property, slated to be the site of the district’s Newark High School of Architecture & Design.

Investigators from the DOL’s Division of Wage and Hour and Contract Compliance delivered the stop-work notices to a New York-based general contractor Townhouse Builders Inc., subcontractor Dimension Contractors LLC of Newark, and developer Summit Assets.

In addition, officials said the stop-work orders were issued for workers on-site not being paid the state prevailing wage rate, neither the developer – which had workers at the site – nor the subcontractor is registered to perform public work in New Jersey. Summit Assets was also cited for misclassifying workers as independent contractors. Townhouse Builders was cited for employing non-registered contractors on a prevailing wage job site.

“Our strongest enforcement tool is to stop work immediately on a public construction site when workplace violations are egregious and readily apparent,” said Labor Commissioner Robert Asaro-Angelo. “Performing public work is a privilege, not a right, and we will not tolerate abuses to workers or the law.” …

TAPinto Newark first reported that Laborers Eastern Region Organizing Fund, or LEROF—the organizing arm of Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA)—filed a complaint with the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development regarding the project, alleging laborers are not being paid prevailing wages as required by law and were working in unsafe conditions.

LEROF Director David Johnson commended the DOL’s decision to issue the stop-work orders.

“We were appalled by what happened [at the site],” Johnson told TAPinto Newark. “We are a union, and we are about educating non-union laborers about their rights. We’re very pleased that after these workers were brought before the Department of Labor to give testimony. It seemed like today, the DOL believed what the workers said, and they acted today.”

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Attorney General’s annual Labor Day Report: More than $11.8 million in restitution and penalties against employers on behalf of workers in Mass.

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MassLive.com – Published: Sep. 05, 2022
By Tristan Smith

Attorney General Maura Healey released her seventh annual Labor Day Report, a summary of the office’s efforts to combat wage theft and other forms of worker exploitation in Massachusetts. The report showed that during fiscal 2022 the office assessed more than $11.8 million in restitution and penalties against employers on behalf of commonwealth workers.

“This Labor Day, we honor the resiliency of Massachusetts workers whose perseverance throughout the COVID-19 pandemic has kept our communities and our economy going,” said AG Healey. “One of my top priorities is ensuring that workers from every industry are paid the wages they are entitled to and that they have access to the hard-fought workplace rights that our laws provide. We will continue to advocate for the rights of workers at the state and national level.”

The Labor Day Report details the actions of the AG’s Fair Labor Division in fiscal 2022, which runs from July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022. During this fiscal year, the Fair Labor Division ordered employers to pay $7.5 million in restitution to employees and $4.2 million in penalties to the General Fund, according to the report.

More than 19,300 workers reportedly benefited from the AG’s enforcement actions.

In fiscal 2022, the Fair Labor Division continued its focus on combatting wage theft in the construction industry – where workers are often vulnerable to exploitation on the job, according to the report. In the construction industry alone, the division assessed more than $2.9 million in penalties and restitution and issued 217 citations against employers. In one case, the AG’s office cited a Wareham company and its owners for more than $1.2 million, including restitution for 41 employees, for prevailing wage violations and failing to submit certified payroll records, according to the report.

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