Agencies Directed to Designate Labor Advisors for Federal Contract Labor

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

January 13, 2023

This week, the Department of Labor (DOL) and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a memo directing all agencies to designate “agency labor advisers” who are responsible for advising agencies on “Federal contract labor matters.” FAR Part 22 contemplates the appointment of “agency labor advisors,” and requires contractors to contact them about potential labor disputes or questions; however, DOL and OMB found not all agencies have such a role.

DOL and OMB also announced the creation of the Contract Labor Advisor Group (CLAG), an interagency working group comprised of labor advisors and acquisition professionals that will “promote better understanding and implementation of contract labor laws and improved communication across agencies in support of a strengthened Federal contracting base.”

While neither the DOL/OMB memo nor FAR Part 22 defines “Federal contract labor matters,” DOL and OMB’s stated intent behind designating labor advisors and creating the CLAG is to address and prevent labor violations through greater communication between the government and its contractors about federal contract labor matters, including emerging issues like the federal contractor minimum wage, non-displacement of service contract workers, and the expansion of project labor agreements. Labor advisors and the CLAG will also develop training for the federal workforce and contractors on labor law issues. The CLAG’s role will also include promoting “labor peace,” in part by promoting pre-contract agreements between an offeror and any labor organization seeking to organize the offeror’s employees to assure the uninterrupted delivery of services during contract performance.

Agencies must designate their labor advisors by February 15, 2023. We will continue to monitor these developments.

(See Article)

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Rolling back laws that set minimum wages for construction workers meant pay shrunk, jobs got more dangerous, and workers had to rely more on public assistance

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BUSINESS INSIDER | Juliana Kaplan – Jan 16, 2023

  • A new study looks at the impact of rolling back prevailing wage laws on wages and workers.
  • Prevailing wage laws set pay standards for government contract workers, particularly construction workers.
  • Rolling back the laws led to lower wage growth, and increased worker fatalities.

It turns out that getting rid of some minimum wage controls left workers earning less, being less productive, relying more on public assistance, and even facing a higher risk of dying on the job.

That’s according to a new study from the Illinois Economic Policy Institute (ILEPI) and Project for Middle Class Renewal (PMCR) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Researchers Frank Manzo, Robert Bruno, and Larissa Petrucci examine the impact of repealing prevailing wage laws — laws that essentially set minimum wages for construction workers on government contracts.

With the bipartisan infrastructure bill pouring billions of dollars into construction projects across the nation, the findings show that contractors in states that have repealed prevailing wage laws may face problems staffing up. Historically, prevailing wage laws have helped plug labor shortages, and contractors could have trouble competing with higher-paying competitors across the country.

Indiana, West Virginia, Kentucky, Arkansas, Wisconsin, and Michigan all repealed their prevailing wage laws between 2015 and 2018. Using data from the US Census Bureau and Department of Labor, the researchers looked at how construction workers fared as those laws were rolled back.

Those states saw their wages for construction workers drop. In Indiana, West Virginia, and Kentucky — the three states that fully repealed prevailing wage laws — average construction hourly wages were $23.94 before the laws were rolled back. By 2017, the average hourly wage was $23.77. Meanwhile, states with the laws in place saw wages grow by 12.2% in the same period.

“What prevailing wage does, it kind of standardizes and stabilizes the industry of a local market,” Petrucci said. “When you repeal that, what you have is contractors who are able to undercut wages and pay workers far below the training that they have developed to get these kinds of jobs. Naturally, you’re gonna see wages decrease.”

(Read More)

Reading City Council adopts responsible contractor ordinance (PA)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on
By MICHELLE LYNCH | Reading Eagle
PUBLISHED: December 20, 2022

Contractors must now meet specific qualifications in order to work on public construction and maintenance projects in the city.

Reading City Council voted 6-1 Monday to adopt a responsible contractor ordinance setting forth certification requirements for contractors bidding on projects over $250,000.

Councilman O. Christopher Miller voted no.

The new law requires contractors to maintain the capacity, expertise, personnel and other resources necessary to successfully complete public projects in a timely, reliable and cost-effective manner.

It also requires contractors to pay their workers prevailing wages and offer state-approved apprenticeship programs. …

“This bill will require a responsible bidder seeking award of a contract to now submit a contractor’s responsibility certification,” he said. “This is exactly what we already do.”

Although some critics have said the legislation is pro-union, William Dorward, president of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Reading and Vicinity, disagreed.

“This is not non-union against union; union against non-union,” he said. “It’s about good actors and bad actors.”

Dorward also said the ordinance helps secure training for the upcoming generation of skilled trades workers.

“It’s about keeping those skill sets to the peak level of education,” he said.

(Read More)

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Labor & Industry Helps Return $8.5 Million To Workers Wronged By Employers In 2022

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Jan. 5, 2023 | bctv.org

In 2022, the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) investigated more than 4,500 complaints of alleged labor law violations and returned more than $8.5 million in earned wages to Pennsylvania workers whose employers violated a labor law, according to data released Tuesday by L&I Secretary Jennifer Berrier.

“Workers in Pennsylvania have the right to keep every cent they rightfully earn,” Berrier said. “The department’s Bureau of Labor Law Compliance holds employers accountable when they wrongfully deny workers their earned wages or when they violate any of Pennsylvania’s labor laws. From ensuring proper overtime wages are paid to protecting children from exploitative work, the bureau enforces 13 labor and employment laws that are essential to the protection and safety of every worker in the commonwealth.”

Most of the complaints investigated in 2022 and in recent years were relevant to the Wage Payment and Collection Law (WPCL), the Minimum Wage Act (MWA), the Prevailing Wage Act, (PWA), the Child Labor Act (CLA) and the Construction Workplace Misclassification Act (CWMA).

  • Under the WPCL, the bureau investigates complaints filed by persons alleging nonpayment of wages, final paychecks or fringe benefits. In 2022, the bureau collected more than $6.6 million from about 1,200 employers in violation of the law and returned those dollars to workers, up from more than $2 million from about 900 employers in 2021.
  • Under the MWA, the bureau investigates complaints alleging employers failed to pay minimum wage or overtime. In August 2022, the bureau also began enforcement of regulations largely affecting tipped employees. During all of 2022, the bureau collected $915,000 from 70 employers in violation of the law and returned those dollars to workers, up from $566,000 from 60 employers in 2021.
  • Under the PWA, the bureau enforces requirements for prevailing wage rates on publicly funded construction projects. In 2022, the bureau determined more than 9,500 prevailing wage violations (up from 8,500 in 2021) and returned more than $1 million to workers who were not paid the proper prevailing wages on projects across the commonwealth.
  • Under the CLA, the bureau investigates allegations of child employees engaged in prohibited occupations, working excessive hours, not receiving mandated break times, or working in dangerous conditions. In 2022, the bureau issued fines to more than 100 entities and collected $205,000 in child labor fines that were deposited into the general fund.
  • Under the CWMA, the bureau investigates allegations of construction-industry employers misclassifying employees as independent contractors. In 2022, the bureau issued penalties to more than 125 construction-industry employers and collected$272,965 in fines. These funds are deposited into the commonwealth’s Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund.

Altogether in 2022, $8.5 million was returned to nearly 10,000 workers.

In December 2022, the Joint Task Force on Misclassification of Employees – a bipartisan-nominated group of volunteers representing business, labor, and government perspectives – submitted its final report to the General Assembly with 15 unanimous recommendations – including extension of the Construction Workplace Misclassification Act beyond the construction trades to cover other industries in the commonwealth.

Since 2015, the Bureau of Labor Law Compliance has collected $46 million in unlawfully withheld wages from employers and returned those dollars to the workers who earned them. During the same period, the bureau has collected nearly $3 million in fines from more than 1,000 contractors in violation of the CWMA and has collected $3.8 million in fines from 430 different entities in violation of the Child Labor Act.

In addition to the laws mentioned above, the bureau enforces the Prohibition of Excessive Overtime in Health Care Act, the Equal Pay Law, the Inspection of Employment Records Law, the Industrial Homework Law, the Seasonal Farm Labor Law, the Medical Fee Act, the Construction Industry Employee Verification Act and regulations on apprenticeship and training.

The Bureau of Labor Law Compliance includes 26 investigators, four supervisors and six central office staff who work in district offices located in Altoona, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Scranton.

 

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Task Force Makes 15 Recommendations to Combat Employee Misclassification (PA)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

December 4, 2022 – by MyChesCo

PENNSYLVANIA — Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) Secretary Jennifer Berrier on Thursday announced that the Joint Task Force on Misclassification of Employees, a bipartisan-nominated group of volunteers representing business, labor, and government perspectives, has submitted its final report to the General Assembly with 15 unanimous recommendations.

The Joint Task Force was created by Act 85 of 2020 to study the misclassification of workers and its impact on the Commonwealth. Misclassification of employees occurs when a business wrongfully classifies a worker as an independent contractor when the nature, type, and oversight of their work determines they should be considered an employee under the law.

“Misclassification harms everyone except the lawbreakers. Misclassified workers are denied the protections and benefits to which the nature of their work entitles them. Law-abiding businesses lose out on business and contracts to unscrupulous businesses engaged in knowing and rampant misclassification. Taxpayers suffer because misclassification deprives the Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund and General Fund of revenue, which results in higher tax rates for everyone,” Berrier said. “I urge the General Assembly to act on the Joint Task Force’s recommendations to address this glaring problem.”

The Joint Task Force report estimates:

  • 48,939 employers in Pennsylvania currently misclassify at least one employee annually;
  • 259,000 Pennsylvania workers are misclassified annually;
  • $91 million in annual lost revenue to the UC Trust Fund due to misclassification;
  • Between $6.4 and $124.5 million in lost revenue in 2019 to the General Fund due to misclassification;
  • $383 thousand in estimated losses to the Uninsured Employer Guaranty Fund (UEGF) due to misclassification in 2021;
  • 10,892 misclassified employees who suffered injury or illness at work and were denied Workers’ Compensation in 2021;
  • $153 million in estimated losses to misclassified employees who suffered injury or illness at work in 2021 without workers’ compensation insurance.

The Joint Task Force has held monthly meetings since January 2021 to study misclassification and will continue to meet through December 2022, when its authority under Act 85 expires. In addition to members appointed by the four caucuses in the General Assembly, the representatives from the Office of the Attorney General and the departments of Revenue and Labor & Industry also serve on the seven-member task force.

(Read More)

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Austin City Council passes wage theft protection ordinance

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Author: KVUE Staff
Published: December 2, 2022

The ordinance includes three elements that aim to protect workers and help them get full payment for the work that they do.

AUSTIN, Texas — On Thursday, the Austin City Council voted on a way to protect laborers.

The council unanimously passed an ordinance that it says will help prevent wage theft.

According to the Workers Defense Project, the ordinance will create a wage theft coordinator position to assist workers that come forward with reports of wage theft violations. The council said this will help make sure workers get full payment for the work that they do.

The ordinance will also create a publicly available database of employers that have a record of wage theft doing business with the City of Austin. It will also bar any employer identified in the database from entering into contracts with the City.

The Austin Monitor reports that the City does not have the authority to prosecute wage theft violators. That responsibility lies with the state and local governments.

Employers who are proven to have committed wage theft can be fined and even sentenced to jail time.

(See Article)

Treasury, IRS Release Guidance on Wage and Apprenticeship Requirements, Commenced Construction Standard

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

JD Supra | December 5, 2022

On Nov. 29, the Treasury Department (Treasury) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) published Notice 2022-61, Prevailing Wage and Apprenticeship Initial Guidance under Section 45(b)(6)(B)(ii) and Other Substantially Similar Provisions (Notice). The Notice provides initial guidance on the prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements taxpayers must satisfy to qualify for increased energy credits or deduction amounts enacted in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) (P.L. 117-169).

The prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements apply to the following tax incentives:

  • Advanced Energy Project Credit (§ 48C)
  • Alternative Fuel Refueling Property Credit (§ 30C)
  • Credit for Carbon Oxide Sequestration (§ 45Q)
  • Clean Fuel Production Credit (§ 45Z)
  • Credit for Production of Clean Hydrogen (§ 45V)
  • Renewable Energy Production Tax Credit (§ 45, § 45Y)
  • Renewable Energy Investment Tax Credit (§ 48, § 48E)
  • Energy Efficient Commercial Buildings Deduction (§ 179D)

The prevailing wage requirements also apply to the following tax incentives:

  • New Energy Efficient Home Credit (§ 45L)
  • Zero-Emission Nuclear Power Production Credit (§ 45U)

Under the statute, prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements apply to qualifying facilities that begin construction 60 days or more after the Treasury and IRS publish guidance. This Notice starts the clock on the statutory 60-day period, meaning the requirements will be in effect for facilities that begin construction on or after Jan. 29, 2023. For facilities the construction of which begins prior to that date, the increased credit amount applies without regard to these labor requirements.

(Read More)

Employers short Iowa workers $900 million annually, report says

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Erin Murphy | The Gazette
Nov. 25, 2022

Iowa Workforce Development says it works hard to ensure employees are paid fairly

DES MOINES — Iowa workers are not paid an estimated $900 million owed to them annually, affecting one in seven workers in the state, and state oversight agencies are doing little to enforce violations, according to a report from a liberal-leaning issue advocacy group.

The report is from Common Good Iowa, which describes itself as a nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization. The group is staffed by policy advocates and researchers, and advocates for “people-centered policy solutions for our state’s most pressing issues.”

According to the report, 250,000 Iowa workers are not paid $900 million owed to them annually:

  • $501 million in overtime violations
  • $241 million in minimum wage violations
  • $163 million in other violations, including the forced sharing of tips, forcing people to work off the clock, making illegal deductions from paychecks or mis-classifying employees as contractors.

The report was written for Common Good Iowa by Sean Finn, whose focus for the group is on labor standards and practices.

Finn analyzed data from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics and Iowa Workforce Development, and U.S. Department of Labor enforcement records.

“This insidious and growing problem costs Iowans 10 times more than all other forms of theft combined,” Finn said in a news release.

According to the report, in addition to those unpaid wages, state and federal government agencies are doing little to punish businesses for any violations. For every $1,000 in wage theft, only $2 is recovered by government agencies — less than 1 percent — the report says.

(Read More)

City Council bans Cleveland from doing business with companies that practice wage theft

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Published: Dec. 05, 2022 | Cleveland.com

By Courtney Astolfi

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Cleveland City Council approved on Monday an ordinance banning the city of Cleveland from doing business with companies found to practice wage theft and those that commit payroll fraud.

The new law bars Cleveland from granting financial assistance to such companies or entering into contracts with them for city services or construction.

The measure is a victory for advocacy group Guardians for Fair Work, which has been lobbying city officials this year to deliver wage-theft protections for Cleveland workers.

“This is an important step forward for working people in Cleveland. We believe the only way we succeed as a city and region is to put workers at the center of our economic development strategies. Without this worker centered approach we will not have shared prosperity,” organizer Nora Kelley said in a news release. She added that workers with the lowest wages are often the ones victimized by wage theft.

Businesses seeking city contracts or financial assistance will have to report to the city’s Fair Employment Wage Board any instances of a government agency finding that they or a subcontractor committed wage theft or payroll fraud within the last three years. Businesses that self-report those instances would not be eligible to receive city money or contracts.

FY 2023 Davis-Bacon Act Wage Survey Plan

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Davis-Bacon Act Wage Survey Plan

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division will be asking the highway, heavy and building construction industries to participate in Davis-Bacon Act wage surveys in FY 2023 to help the agency establish prevailing wage rates, as required under the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts (DBRA).

The DBRA directs the department to set the prevailing wage rates that reflect the actual wages and fringe benefits paid to construction workers in the local area where the work is performed.

The survey plan for FY 2023 includes active construction project wage data in the following areas and is not limited to federally funded construction projects. Data collection periods are to be determined and posted online. The Wage and Hour Division strongly encourages all stakeholders to participate in these surveys.

State Construction Type Area
North Carolina Highway Statewide
Arizona Highway Statewide
Arizona Heavy Statewide
New Hampshire Building Statewide
Texas Building Metropolitan Counties: Greater San Antonio and Greater Austin
Guam All Types All Areas

Full participation by contractors and interested parties is key to setting accurate prevailing wages and developing complete wage determinations. Accurate wages and complete determinations also reduce the need for contractors to request additional labor classifications.

The best way to participate in the survey is online. The Wage and Hour Division will send notification letters to interested parties and contractors known to the agency. To be included, please submit all data by the survey-specific cutoff date. Contractors and other interested parties do not need to have received a letter to participate in the survey.

Visit our website to learn more about Davis-Bacon and Related Acts and WHD’s Davis-Bacon survey program.