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

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

July 6, 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)

Minimum Wage Hike Approved by San Diego Voters

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

The proposition not only raises the minimum wage to $10.50 but also gives workers five days of paid sick leave.

By Liberty Zabala
Published at 7:43 AM PDT on Jun 8, 2016

 

San Diego voters made their support for a minimum wage increase very clear when they went to the ballot box Tuesday.

Proposition I was approved by 63 percent of voters, clearing the way for an immediate increase to the city’s minimum wage.

The proposition not only raises the minimum wage to $10.50 but also gives workers five days of paid sick leave.

In January, the minimum wage will be boosted to $11.50 an hour.

The state also approved a similar hike to $15 an hour minimum wage.

(Read More)

City Hall Tells How It Proposes to Enforce Pasadena’s New Minimum Wage (CA)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

City Hall’s monitoring, enforcement plan calls for hiring a compliance officer, new duties for multiple city departments and a $204,000 budget

by EDDIE RIVERA, Community Editor
Wednesday, May 4, 2016 | 4:56 AM

Following Pasadena’s passage in March of a new ordinance which will raise the minimum wage in the city to $15 an hour by 2020, both business owners and people who work in Pasadena were left with two major questions – how will this raise actually be implemented and monitored, and how will the new law be enforced?

City Hall’s Minimum Wage Internal Working Group has a plan. The detailed proposal was made public last Thursday in an informational report.

The Group is recommending that the overall program be administered by a code compliance manager working within the department of Planning and Community Development. The initial outreach of the ordinance to media, residents and businesses, will be managed by the Council’s Economic Development Committee, and the City’s public information officer. Staff training in the legal requirements of the ordinance will be handled by the City Attorney’s office.

Consumer outreach and education will be managed by the consumer action teams of the Recreation and Human Services Department, who will also manage intake and complaints regarding wage enforcement and refer them to the Code Compliance manager. Egregious cases may also be referred to the Prosecutor’s Office, working with the Police Department.

(Read More)

Sacramento contractor makes $385,000 settlement over wages

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

BY DALE KASLER
MAY 19, 2016 9:29 AM

A Sacramento electrical contractor agreed to pay $385,000 in back pay to settle an investigation into its alleged failure to pay prevailing wages, the federal government announced Thursday.

Harold E. Nutter & Son Inc. will pay 58 workers a total of $385,000 and has agreed to comply with prevailing wages laws on future contracts, the U.S. Department of Labor said.

The department said Nutter failed to pay prevailing wages on seven federally funded construction projects, six in California and one in Washington state. Because the contracts were federally funded, the Davis-Bacon Act required all contractors and subcontractors to pay so-called prevailing wages, a threshold determined by the department on a community-by-community basis.

(Read More)

Owners of Concord firm charged with wage theft, tax fraud (CA)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

By Nate Gartrell
POSTED: 04/29/2016 12:01:28 PM PDT
MARTINEZ — A Concord construction firm is facing 11 felony charges after a 10-month investigation produced evidence that its owners were withholding wages from employees and failing to pay them workers’ compensation insurance, according to the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office.

Nathan and Sarah Moore, owners of NRM Renovations Inc., were charged with grand theft of labor, workers’ compensation insurance fraud, and a litany of other counts all related to labor code and insurance law violations, a DA news release says.

The company is accused of owing more than $30,000 in back wages to several employees, around $250,000 in workers’ compensation premiums to insurance companies and back taxes for more than $1 million in wages. They’re also charged with an aggravated white-collar crime enhancement, which could add jail time to their sentence if they’re convicted.

(Read More)

FIVE DEFENDANTS ARRAIGNED FOR COMMITTING OVER $635,000 IN TAX AND INSURANCE FRAUD AND FAILING TO PAY EMPLOYEES PREVAILING WAGE ON PUBLIC WORKS CONTRACTS

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Case # 16CF0765
Date: April 13, 2016

SANTA ANA, Calif. – Five defendants were arraigned yesterday April 12, 2016, for committing over $635,000 in tax and insurance fraud and failing to pay employees prevailing wage on public works contracts. Babak Brian Abghari, 36, Newport Coast, Homayoun Harry Abghari, 57, Huntington Beach, Julio Roberto Alvarado, 47, San Pedro, Cody Lawson, 34, Long Beach, Phyllis Martinez, 51, Anaheim, are each charged with eight felony counts of taking and receiving a portion of a worker’s wage on a public work, 56 felony counts of recording a false or forged instrument, six felony counts of making a false statement to discourage an injured worker from claiming benefits, and seven felony counts of willful failure to pay taxes, with sentencing enhancement allegations for property loss over $200,000. Babak Aghari and Homayoun Aghari are also charged with three felony counts of misrepresenting facts to a workers’ compensation insurance company. If convicted, the defendants face a maximum sentence of 49 years and six months in state prison. The defendants are scheduled for a pre-trial hearing on May 12, 2016, at 8:30 a.m. in Department C-55, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana.

Houmayoun Abghari and Babak Abghari are accused of owning and operating PCN3, a general contracting company that mainly conducts public works projects.

Between Jan. 1, 2000, and March 30, 2015, the defendants are accused of fraudulently paying PCN3’s employees less than the prevailing wage in cash, and keeping the extra money owed to their employees. The defendants are accused of “shorting” the victims’ hours on certified payroll reports and/or requiring their victims’ to give cash back.

(Read More)

DEFENDANT FACES ADDITIONAL CHARGES FOR ATTEMPTING TO TAKE RESTITUTION MONEY FROM VICTIMS

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

*Defendant was also previously charged for conspiring to underpay employees on public works projects

Case # 16CF0632, 15CF1672

Date: March 14, 2016

SANTA ANA, Calif. – A defendant faces additional charges for attempting to take restitution money from victims in another open case. No Sung Pak, 75, Hollywood, is charged with two felony counts of attempted taking and receiving a portion of a worker’s wage on a public work, and a sentencing enhancement for crime-bail-crime. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of three years and 10 months in state prison for these charges. He was arraigned Friday, March 11, 2016, and is out of custody on $25,000 bail. He is scheduled for a pre-trial hearing May 26, 2016, at 8:30 a.m. in Department C-55, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana.

Pak and co-defendants Michael John Ferrin, 40, San Pedro, and Scott Sung Yang, 45, Los Angeles, are also each charged with five felony counts of taking and receiving a portion of a worker’s wage on public works and one felony count of recording a false forged instrument. Pak is additionally charged with 29 felony counts of willful failure to pay tax, two felony counts of misrepresenting facts to State Compensation Insurance Fund (SCIF), two felony counts of misrepresenting facts to workers’ compensation insurance company. If convicted, Pak faces a maximum sentence of 27 years and four months in state prison for these charges, and Ferrin and Yang each face a maximum sentence of five years and four months in state prison. Ferrin and Yang are out of custody on $50,000 bail. They are scheduled to be arraigned on May 26, 2016, at 8:30 a.m. in Department C-55, Central Justice Center.

(Read More)

California has a Right to Withhold Funds from Charter Cities that Refuse to Apply Prevailing Wages on Public Work Projects; Court Upholds SB 7

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

 

In recent years, a number of cities have become “charter cities,” in some cases because they believed it would “free” them from state laws requiring they pay prevailing wages on all public projects. Prevailing wages typically are what the prevalent pay is in a region.

In response, Senate Bill 7 (SB 7) passed into law, which allows the state to withhold discretionary funding from charter cities that refuse to require prevailing wage to be paid to workers on public projects.

Six charter cities (City of El Centro, City of Carlsbad, City of El Cajon, City of Fresno, City of Oceanside, and City of Vista) filed a lawsuit challenging SB 7 arguing the law is unconstitutional. In City of El Centro v. David Lanier, decided in August 2014, a judge ruled against the cities and upheld the legality of SB 7. The Court also upheld SB 922 (2011) and SB 829 (2012), which allow the state to restrict discretionary state funding to charter cities that refuse to consider adoption of Project Labor Agreements (PLAs).

(Read More)

Southern California flooring contractor pays more than $458K in back wages, damages to 127 workers following US Labor Department investigation

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

WHD News Release: [12/10/2015]
Release Number: 15-1870-SAN

 

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Drivers experience frustrations when stuck in congested traffic areas, such as Los Angeles. Sometimes, other factors test their tolerance, such as spending multiple hours behind the wheel each day for work and not getting paid for all that time, as required by law. That is what happened to 127 workers in Riverside.

An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found that Mota’s Floorcovering Inc. in Riverside paid straight time for all hours worked – including those employees who put in more than 40 hours in a workweek – in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime provisions. The company also required workers to travel each day to and from work sites, including out-of-town assignments. However, the company did not always count travel time correctly and compensate the time as hours worked. In addition, the employer failed to include compensable travel time for overtime wage calculations, and did not keep accurate time records, in violation of the FLSA.

(Read More)

US Labor Department recovers more than $342K in unpaid overtime wages, damages for 22 So Cal construction and maintenance employees

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

WHD News Brief: [12/07/2015]
Release Number: 15-2280-SAN

 

Employer: Salinas Inc.

Site: 1537 E. McFadden Avenue, Suite G, Santa Ana, California 92705

Investigation findings: An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found that Salinas Inc. violated the overtime and recordkeeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The firm paid field workers, such as plumbers and carpet cleaners, a fixed semi-monthly salary regardless of the hours these employees actually worked. Some of these workers were also paid an additional flat rate for service calls. These employees often worked as many as 70 hours per week, but were not paid legally-required overtime for hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek. The carpeting, plumbing, painting and janitorial general contractor did use time cards for office staff but failed to keep any records of hours worked by their field employees, as required under federal law.

Resolution: Salinas will pay $171,428 in overtime back wages plus an equal, additional amount in liquidated damages, totaling $342,856 to 22 workers.

(Read More)