NAFC’s Board of Directors’ Elects New NAFC President and Chairman

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on March 18, 2024

NAFC is pleased to announce that its Board of Directors has elected Board
Member Ernesto (“Ernie”) J. Ordonez as its new Chairman and President. Ernie
succeeds Rocco Davis, retired Vice President of LIUNA. Ernie is a LIUNA Vice
President and Regional Manager of its Pacific Southwest Region covering the
states of California, Hawaii, Arizona. Ernie is a 2006 graduate of the Harvard Trade
Union Program. He is a second generation Laborer, becoming a member of
LIUNA Local 89 in San Diego, CA upon his graduation from high school .
During his career, Ernie has worked as a Laborer, Laborer Foreman, Recording
Secretary and Field Representative for Local 89, International Representative and
Assistant Regional Manager for the LIUNA Pacific Southwest Region before
assuming his position as Regional Manager.

NAFC welcomes Ernie to his new position and extends heartfelt thanks to retiring
Chairman and President Rocco Davis for his years of dedication and service to
NAFC, its members and to the entire labor movement.

How solar contractors can meet IRA apprenticeship requirements

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on March 14, 2024

Kelsey Misbrener
October 30, 2023

The solar workforce is changing because of IRA apprenticeship and prevailing wage requirements that went into effect in January. Contractors that haven’t yet made a long-term recruitment plan have a few options available to help them do so.

To collect the full 30% ITC for projects 1 MWAC and larger, contractors with four or more workers on a jobsite must employ apprentices for a certain percentage of labor-hours and pay prevailing wages to all workers. For projects starting in 2023, registered apprentices must make up 12.5% of the on-site labor during the construction phase. That number increases to 15% for projects that start construction in 2024 and after.

Since this is a new initiative for the clean energy industry, the Dept. of Labor (DOL) is working with a few partners to coach and acclimate contractors to the country’s well-established apprenticeship system.

The Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) was contracted by the DOL to lead the Apprenticeships in Clean Energy (ACE) Network, a national coalition of industry, education and workforce development leaders working to create, expand and diversify Registered Apprenticeship opportunities in the clean energy industry.

“The intermediaries can help understand what that process of registering a program is, what the requirements are, navigate that process, and also navigate where additional funding may be available to support programs,” said Richard Lawrence, program director at IREC.

IREC is specifically tasked with recruiting more veterans into the clean energy industry. Veterans in Registered Apprenticeship programs can access a monthly housing allowance benefit through the GI Bill, making apprenticeships appealing for this population. IREC is also working to bring other diverse workers into the industry who may not have access to green employment without an apprenticeship program.

“Being an ‘earn-while-you-learn’ model, as they say, is a great way to attract diverse candidates. You remove a lot of the barriers that are associated with similar pathways, like getting a college degree, where you’re having to often pay for those courses up-front,” Lawrence said.

Nearly $16M in wages, benefits recovered for more than 2,800 workers denied full pay by 62 subcontractors on federal project at New Jersey military base

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on February 9, 2024

Agency: Wage and Hour Division
Date: January 29, 2024
Release Number: 23-2598-NAT

A widespread investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor has recovered nearly $16 million in back wages and restored over 24,700 paid sick leave hours to leave banks for more than 2,800 workers denied their full wages and benefits by 62 subcontractors hired to construct temporary housing and provide services to Afghan refugees at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey.

After 75 investigations that included Jupiter, Florida-based Disaster Management Group LLC, one of the project’s general contractors, and 61 subcontractors, the department’s Wage and Hour Division found DMG and its subcontractors violated federal law, including the McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act, the Davis-Bacon Act, the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act and Executive Order 13706, by failing to:

Pay minimum prevailing wage rates to workers.
Pay fringe benefits.
Pay proper overtime.
Offer required paid sick leave under Executive Order 13706.
Properly classify workers as employees in their appropriate trades according to the work they performed.
Maintain required records, including segregating any benefits that may have been paid from wages.
Provide required notices to workers informing them of their rights under federal law.

The division found DMG liable for its own violations of federal law as well as for violations committed by its subcontractors for work performed at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. Managed by the Department of Defense, the project involved contractors from 17 states and Puerto Rico tasked with building temporary housing and coordinating delivery of medical, food and translation services as part of Operation Allies Refuge and Operation Allies Welcome to resettle Afghan refugees. The project began in July 2021 and was completed in February 2022.

In addition to paying the back wages and fringe benefits, DMG signed an enhanced compliance agreement with the department that requires it to develop and follow strategies to prevent, detect and resolve potential non-compliance by, among other things:

Creating a written prevailing wage compliance manual to include employees’ federal protections.
Vetting potential subcontractors’ ability to perform work in compliance with prevailing wage laws.
Monitoring itself and its subcontractors proactively by periodically conducting confidential employee interviews, reviewing basic and certified records, analyzing the use of classifications related to the work performed, verifying fringe benefit payments and maintaining a list of all employees of all subcontractors on any covered contracts.
Requiring subcontractors to certify compliance on all prevailing wage projects.
Verifying that the agency has incorporated the correct labor clauses and wage determinations.

“Every worker deserves to be paid the full wages to which they are entitled, and this compliance agreement, which recovers millions in wages for hundreds of workers, should serve as notice to other government contractors that the department will utilize its full power to enforce vigorously federal wage laws,” said Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda.

US Department of Labor, Nevada office of the Labor Commissioner Partner to protect and promote workers’ rights, educate employers

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on February 9, 2024

Agency Wage and Hour Division
Date February 6, 2024
Release Number 24-185-SAN

The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that its Wage and Hour Division district office in Las Vegas and the Nevada Office of the Labor Commissioner signed a collaborative partnership to enhance and promote joint outreach, investigations and information sharing.

Through the partnership, the division’s Las Vegas district office will cooperate with the Office of the Labor Commissioner on cases with jurisdictional overlap, specifically those involving wage theft. A Memorandum of Understanding will help both agencies effectively continue to work together on areas of mutual interest, including educating employees and employers about their rights and responsibilities under the law.

“Our partnership with the Office of the Labor Commissioner will help promote and achieve compliance with labor standards to protect and enhance the welfare of workers in Nevada,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Gene Ramos in Las Vegas. “This agreement will also encourage enhanced law enforcement and greater coordination between agencies.”

The five-year agreement will also facilitate joint outreach presentations, cross-training for investigators and staff, and the referral of potential violations of each entity’s statutes.

SD inks union construction pact

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on February 9, 2024

Andrew Keatts
Kate Murphy
February 1, 2024

The city of San Diego on Wednesday reached a major deal for local construction unions, agreeing to a seven-year project labor agreement, or PLA, on all city work exceeding $5 million for the next two years and more than $1 million for the following five years.

State of play: The agreement among the San Diego County Building and Construction Trades Council stipulates wages and benefits for workers and guarantees sufficient labor to complete projects, while requiring contractors to hire through union halls.

National City, Chula Vista and La Mesa likewise agreed last year to PLAs for most city projects.

Between the lines: Those deals illustrate the dramatic remaking of union politics in San Diego in more than a decade.

In 2012, voters passed a ballot measure prohibiting the city from requiring PLAs on public works, following passage of similar bans around the county.

In 2022, city voters passed a ballot measure rescinding that ban, making way for the agreement the City Council approved Wednesday.

The big picture: The share of American workers who are union members hit a new low in 2023 — now 1 in 10 — although the total count of unionized employees rose slightly, Axios’ Nathan Bomey writes.

Why it matters: Advocates say unions are a needed proponent of worker rights and compensation, while critics suggest they throttle progress in the workplace.

USDOL to Offer Online Prevailing Wage Seminars

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on February 9, 2024

2024 Prevailing Wage Seminars

January 30, 2024

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division will offer compliance seminars for contracting agencies, contractors, unions, workers and other stakeholders on the requirements for paying prevailing wages on federally funded construction and service contracts.

Part of the division’s effort to increase awareness and improve compliance, each day-long seminar will include sessions on the Davis-Bacon Act, Service Contract Act and other related topics. Participants can choose among the sessions offered throughout the day.

The seminars are scheduled on Feb. 27, May 15 and Aug. 29.

While seminar attendance is free, registration is required. Additional information, including links to the sessions for each date, will be provided to participants after registration.

Framingham construction company fined nearly $1 million for wage theft

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on November 2, 2023

Eric Casey
November 2, 2023

PI Construction Management, a Framingham-based company, has been fined $926,898 by the Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General for violations of the Massachusetts False Claims Acts.

The violation stems from the failure of a BPI subcontractor, Superior Carpentry of Framingham, to pay prevailing wages to employees working on two public construction projects in Westport and Middleborough. This led to a complaint against the company being filed in December 2021, according to a press release released by AG’s office on Wednesday.

The fine was the result of litigation between BPI and the attorney general’s office, in which BPI argued that they were relying on the accuracy of the forms submitted by Superior. BPI denied any knowledge of the fraud being committed by Superior, according to the release, but admitted that it did not take steps to ensure that the payroll information was accurate.

This is the first case under the False Claims Act that affirms that contractors are liable for facilitating misconduct by subcontractors, according to the press release.

The AG’s office estimated that workers on the project were underpaid by a combined total of $256,539.

New regs impact government construction contracting

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on October 31, 2023

New England Biz Law Update staff
October 31, 2023

The the U.S. Department of Labor has issued a final rule updating regulations that implement the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts (DBRA).

The DBRA requires contractors and subcontractors on federally funded construction projects to pay their workers at least the prevailing wage rates for the locality in which the work is being performed. The final rule is the first comprehensive update to the Davis-Bacon regulations in over 40 years.

The rule includes a number of changes, including:

Restoring the 30% rule. The final rule restores the DOL’s definition of prevailing wage that was used until the Reagan Administration. Under this three-step process, the prevailing wage is that which is paid to a majority of workers in the classification. If no majority exists, then the prevailing wage is the rate paid to at least 30% of workers. If no rate is paid to at least 30%, then a weighted average will be used. (Previously, the average was used if a prevailing wage was not paid to 50% of workers.)

Adopting wage escalators. The final rule allows the DOL to more frequently update prevailing wage rates. Rather than hinging on DOL wage surveys, periodic updates will now be based on total compensation data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Cost Index, which tracks both wages and benefits. Rate updates will occur every three years, at most.

Strengthening worker protection and enforcement rights. The final rule includes new anti-retaliation provisions to protect workers. The rule also strengthens the DOL’s ability to withhold money from federal contractors in order to pay employees their lost wages.

Providing greater clarity. The rule updates a number of definitions that affect applicability. For example, “building or work” now includes solar panels, wind turbines, broadband installation, and the installation of electric car chargers. Other changes affect who is considered a “material supplier” or a “prime contractor.”

Illinois joins lengthening list of states outlawing wage theft

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on October 30, 2023

October 30, 2023

By an overwhelming legislative majority Illinois has joined the lengthening list of states to outlaw wage theft.

The measure, signed by Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker in September, shows again the importance of state-level lawmakers and governors to workers.

That can be both positive and negative. The nation is increasingly politically polarized. In “Blue States,” such as Illinois, New York, California, and, this year, Michigan and Minnesota, elected officials respond to workers’ support with worker protection legislation unlikely to make it through Capitol Hill.

But in often gerrymandered and/or racially polarized “Red States” – such as Texas and Florida and other Southern and lightly populated Great Plains states – right-wing radicals, funded by corporate special interests, enact and enforce worker suppression and voter suppression legislation, often at the same time.

Illinois’ wage theft bill, HB1122, was one of the top priorities of the state AFL-CIO. The Illinois House passed it 68 to 38 and the state Senate agreed 35 to 20. It takes effect next July 1.

Senate confirms Looman as DOL Wage and Hour administrator

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on October 26, 2023

Justin R. Barnes & Jeffrey W. Brecher
10.26.23

The Senate has confirmed Principal Deputy Administrator Jessica Looman as the head of the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) by a 51-46 vote.

The WHD enforces the federal minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and child labor requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act, as well as other employment standards and worker protections under other statutes.

Since January 20, 2021, Looman had been serving as the Principal Agency Administrator, a role designated to permit her to lead the WHD while her nomination was pending without triggering litigation. An effort late last year to have Looman confirmed through unanimous consent was unsuccessful.

Previously, Looman served in various capacities in her home state of Minnesota, including as executive director of the state Building and Construction Trades Council, commissioner of the state’s Commerce Department, and deputy commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry.

This is a key time for the WHD. The Department of Labor proposed new regulations in August that would substantially increase the number of workers who would be eligible for overtime compensation. The key provision of the rulemaking would provide overtime pay to salaried employees earning less than $55,068 annually. If the proposal is finalized, millions more salaried workers could be eligible for overtime compensation. More than 100 business groups have asked Looman to extend the comment period for the new overtime regulations given the significant impact of the proposed rulemaking.

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Category: News