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Paul Johnson Drywall Inc. Agrees to Pay $600,000 in Back Wages, Damages and Penalties Following US Labor Department Investigation

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on
PHOENIX – As a result of a Wage and Hour investigation, Paul Johnson Drywall Inc. severed its relationship with Arizona Tract LLC., a construction labor contractor. Beginning April 2013, Paul Johnson Drywall entered into a contract with Arizona Tract for the provision of drywall labor. Arizona Tract classified former Paul Johnson Drywall workers as “member/owners” instead of employees, which stripped them of basic worker protections afforded to employees.

Today, the U.S. Department of Labor filed a consent judgment in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona by which Prescott-based Paul Johnson Drywall Inc., and its owner Robert Cole Johnson, agreed to take concrete steps to ensure that misclassification of its workforce does not occur again and to pay $556,000 in overtime back wages and liquidated damages to at least 445 current and former employees. The employer also agreed to pay $44,000 in civil monetary penalties.

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HUD Tells Canton to Make Up Prevailing Wage Difference

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on
If you’re a construction worker who helped build Goodwill’s Canton campus in 2009, you may be getting a small check from the city.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is forcing the city of Canton to pay $31,000 in wages to some workers who built Goodwill’s campus at 408 Ninth St. SW.
HUD, in an audit of the city’s federal spending of Community Development Block Grant funds, found that the city never enforced a requirement that construction workers be paid the prevailing wage. The prevailing wage is the hourly wage, plus overtime and benefits, paid to a majority of workers in a particular area. It is set by the U.S. Department of Labor.

OSHA Accepting Susan Harwood Training Grant Applications

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

OSHA announced it is soliciting applications under the Susan Harwood Training Grant Program, with $7 million available for non-profit organizations, including community-based organizations, faith-based organizations, employer associations, labor unions, management associations, colleges, and universities.

According to OSHA, the program supports the creation of in-person, hands-on training and educational programs and the development of materials for workers and employers in small businesses; industries with high injury, illness, and fatality rates; and workers who are underserved, have limited English proficiency, or are temporary workers. The program awards two types of grants: Targeted Topic Training and Capacity Building. Each grant fund will have approximately $3.5 million in funding.

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Hawaii Raises Minimum Wage to $10.10 Per Hour

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

HONOLULU (AP) – Hawaii has raised its minimum wage to $10.10 per hour, putting the state among the first to meet President Obama’s goal of increasing the minimum wage nationwide.

 Gov. Neil Abercrombie signed the minimum wage bill into law in a ceremony Friday, marking the first time Hawaii’s minimum wage will be raised from $7.25 since 2007.The increase will be phased in gradually over four years. Abercrombie said he wished the hike was coming quicker, but “we’re swimming in the water that we’re in.”

“I always thought it’s not a minimum wage, it’s a survival wage,” Abercrombie said. “And in today’s world, that minimum wage is not a survival wage, certainly in Hawaii.”

Hawaii is the third state this year to increase its minimum wage to $10.10 per hour, following Connecticut and Maryland, said Jack Temple, policy analyst for the National Employment Law Project.

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150 Americans Die Each Day Due to Workplace Injury or Disease According to New Report

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

WASHINGTON, DC – According to a report released today by the AFL-CIO, 4,628 workers were killed in the United States during 2012 due to workplace injuries. Additionally an estimated 50,000 died from occupational diseases, resulting in a loss of nearly 150 workers each day from preventable workplace conditions.

“A hard day’s work should not be a death sentence,” said AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. “It is unconscionable that any worker has to choose between life and putting food on the table. When Congress votes to weaken worker protections or defund critical programs and when big corporations marginalize and deemphasize worker safety, they insult the memory of all those workers who have died while fighting to attain the American Dream.”

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(Copy of Report)

NY Sets Classification Rules

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New York has joined a growing number of states tackling the issue of employment classification for commercial truck drivers. Following through on a mandate in a bill passed in January, the state’s Department of Labor released new standards this week to clarify whether a driver is an employee or an independent contractor.

“The trucking industry is vital to how our state operates, from shipping materials that make our buildings, to parts and systems that keep us safe, to the food and products we use every day,” says New York Commissioner of Labor Peter Rivera. “For too long, truck drivers have sought to have a clear standard. This law provides clarity for employers and truckers.”

Leggett proposes pay-equity law for male, female contractors in Montgomery County

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Contractors working for Montgomery County would be required to show that they pay men and women equally and do not retaliate against workers who share salary information under legislation introduced Tuesday by County Executive Isiah Leggett (D).

A handful of states, including New Mexico and Minnesota, have laws requiring pay equity for contract workers and government employees. Other states, including New Jersey, have outlawed retaliation against workers for sharing pay information.

But advocates for pay equity said Tuesday that if Leggett’s proposal is approved by the County Council, Montgomery would be the first municipal government to establish such requirements for contractors.

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(Copy of Bill 29-14)

Garcia Forest Service debarred from federal contracts for 3 years following US Labor Department investigation

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

MINNEAPOLIS — A U.S. Labor Department investigation has resulted in the debarment of Garcia Forest Service LLC, and its president, Samuel Garcia, from eligibility for further service contracts with any U.S. government agency for three years. The investigation found that the Rockingham, N.C.-based company violated the McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act and the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act by failing to pay fringe benefits, minimum wage, overtime and holiday pay to workers hired for a reforestation project in the Superior National Forest in Minnesota. Administrative Law Judge Kenneth A. Krantz issued the debarment order in Newport News, Va. The consent findings were filed by the department’s Regional Office of the Solicitor in Chicago.

“Contractors that do business with the federal government have an obligation to abide by the law, pay their employees the required contractual rates and benefits, and keep accurate and complete required records,” said Laura A. Fortman, principal deputy administrator of the Wage and Hour Division. “The Service Contract Act requires debarment when violations are found unless the high standard of ‘unusual circumstances’ is met. Debarring this employer illustrates the department’s commitment to vigorous enforcement of government contracting laws and helps level the playing field for law-abiding employers.”

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Benefits of Lorain High School PLA start with bids 6% lower than estimates

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

You may recall last month’s ACT Ohio progress report where I detailed how the North Central Building Trades Council (“NCBT”), working in partnership with ACT Ohio, initiated suit to enforce the Project Labor Agreement on the $62 million Lorain High School project.

A favorable ruling by the judge overseeing the case on our request for injunctive relief led to positive negotiations with the Attorney General’s Office and significant discussion with the Kasich Administration. The result was a settlement agreement that allowed the PLA to stand for the project.

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OSHA Head: Some Valid Whistleblower Claims Tossed

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

The head of the agency that runs the U.S. Department of Labor’s whistleblower program said strict time frames dictated by an older whistleblower law lead the agency to dismiss more than 200 cases a year, some of which have merit.

Assistant secretary for labor for occupational safety and health David Michaels asked lawmakers Tuesday to pass legislation giving some prospective whistleblowers more than 30 days to file complaints.

“The statute of limitations is a very serious problem,” said Mr. Michaels in a Tuesday hearing by a subcommittee of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

“There are [more than] 200 cases a year which we dismiss simply because they’re untimely. Some of them involve what we think are very meritorious cases of workers who file 32, 34, 35 days after the event. That simply isn’t fair,” he said

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