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USDOL to Offer Online Prevailing Wage Seminars

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on
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.

Register Here

 

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US Department of Labor recovers more than $947k from Oregon federal contractors who denied full wages, benefits to 213 construction workers

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Wage and Hour Division

September 21, 2023

The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $947,547 from four Oregon contractors who failed to pay fringe benefits, prevailing and overtime wages to 213 employees working on federally funded construction projects in Oregon and Washington.

The recovery follows several investigations by the department’s Wage and Hour Division and the discovery of violations of the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts, the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Specifically, federal investigators found the following:

G Builders LLC, a Damascus wood framing company, classified employees incorrectly and failed to pay them the appropriate prevailing wages and fringe benefits for the type of work they did while building affordable housing units at U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-funded projects in Gresham and Eugene, and in Vancouver, Washington.
Joshua Legacy Painting and Restoration LLC, a Hillsboro construction contractor, did not pay workers the correct prevailing wages, fringe benefits and overtime while building affordable housing for farmworkers at the federally funded Colonia Paz complex in Lebanon.

Emagineered Solutions Inc., a Redmond heavy construction contractor and equipment manufacturer, incorrectly classified workers for the type of work they did and failed to pay them proper prevailing wages and overtime while working on a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-funded project at the John Day Lock and Dam in the Columbia River near Rufus.
Reyes Construction LLC, a Bend roofing services contractor, failed to pay employees corresponding prevailing wages and fringe benefits while working on a residential construction project in Ontario with funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

In total, the division’s investigations helped 213 workers recover $846,440 in prevailing wages and fringe benefits, and $101,106 in overtime wages. The department also assessed G Builders $10,000 in penalties because the company violated similar federal labor laws in 2016 and 2021.

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2023 Prevailing Wage Seminars

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

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

The virtual prevailing wage seminars will include video trainings on a variety of Davis-Bacon Act and Service Contract Act topics that participants can view at their convenience, followed by corresponding virtual Question & Answer sessions, which will be offered live on multiple dates throughout the year to accommodate participants’ schedules. Sessions on Davis-Bacon compliance are scheduled for March 8, June 27, and September 13, and sessions on SCA compliance are scheduled for March 9, June 28, and September 14.

Register Now

The training is a component of WHD’s ongoing efforts to increase awareness and improve compliance with federal prevailing wage requirements.

While seminar attendance is free, registration is required. More information, including the links to video trainings and virtual Q&A session dates, will be provided to participants upon registration.

For more information on the Davis-Bacon Act, the Service Contract Act, and other federal wage laws, please call the Department’s toll-free helpline at 1-866-4US-WAGE (487-9243) or visit dol.gov/whd.

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The Intersection of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Davis-Bacon Act Requirements for Federal Contractors and Subcontractors

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

The National Law Review
Friday, June 17, 2022

On November 15, 2021, President Joe Biden signed the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act into law, which is popularly known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (“BIL”).

The BIL is estimated to create an additional 800,000 jobs. The United States Department of Labor (“DOL”) contends that such new jobs will “expand the middle class, revitalize our nation’s transportation, communications and utility systems and build a more resilient, reliable, and environmentally sound future.” The White House asserts that the BIL will provide protection to “critical labor standards on construction projects,” as a substantial portion of the construction projects included in the BIL will be subject to requirements of the Davis-Bacon Act (“DBA” or the “Act”).

While the BIL provides new revenue sources and opportunities for construction projects, federal contractors and subcontractors should ensure that their businesses comply with the DBA’s prevailing wage rates and labor standards requirements.

…

Practical Consideration in Compliance with DBA
Federal contractors and subcontractors should ensure that covered workers are properly classified for the work such individuals perform and paid in accordance with the prevailing wage rate for their classification.

Employers will often face recordkeeping challenges when they have nonexempt employees who perform covered (manual) work and non-covered (administrative) work in the same workweek.

In such instances, the employer must determine whether the employee is salaried or paid hourly. If the employee is salaried, the employer must determine whether the employee’s salary is greater than or equal to the prevailing wage rate for the employee’s classification. If not, the employer contractor is required to increase the employee’s pay for the week the covered work is performed.

Likewise, if the employee is paid hourly, then the employer must ensure the employee’s hourly rate is greater than or equal to the prevailing wage rate for the employee’s classification.

Federal contractors and subcontractors could face various consequences due to their failure to comply with the DBA, ranging from termination of the federal contract and debarment to a contracting agency withholding money due to the contractor to cover back wages due to employees as well as criminal prosecution. Accordingly, federal contractors and subcontractors should consult with legal counsel to ensure they comply with the various DBA requirements for any covered contracts.

(Read More)

Workforce Development’s Role in Building the Infrastructure Labor Force

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Feb. 25, 2022
Marina Zhavoronkova, Center for American Progress

Construction and other industries supported by the new federal infrastructure law face labor shortages. Workforce development systems can help narrow that gap by supporting efforts to bring in women and workers of color.

The bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) is injecting $1.2 trillion toward repairing America’s crumbling transportation system, ensuring access to clean water, connecting people to high-speed broadband and more. But as infrastructure funding starts to trickle down to cities and states, it will take a skilled and diverse workforce to ensure that the law’s extraordinary potential becomes a reality.

The government-funded workforce development system, authorized by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), is a network of federal, state and local organizations and agencies that connect employers and job-seekers to education and training opportunities and to each other. The system must leverage its expertise and positioning to support the talent and diversity demands of the infrastructure law. Industries supported by the legislation, such as construction, are facing significant labor shortages. They also have historically excluded segments of the labor market such as women and communities of color, groups that recent jobs data show are still bearing the brunt of the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The majority of the construction jobs funded by the IIJA will be subject to Davis-Bacon Act protections, which will ensure that workers are paid a prevailing wage and have access to workplace protections. While workforce development is not the sole solution to systemic inequities in the labor market, it has the potential to create an ecosystem in which those problems are not perpetuated and, in doing so, connect job-seekers to good jobs — those that pay well and provide benefits — and help employers meet their labor needs.

(Read More)

Building better communities through construction workforce development

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

PUBLISHED – Sept. 23, 2019

A Growing Workforce Trend

More and more often, public agencies are incorporating workforce hiring requirements into their construction contracts. For those who are unfamiliar, these stipulations typically require the contractors that are awarded contracts by the agency to employ a workforce that meets certain thresholds of demographic criteria. For example, one of the more common trends that local entities push for is an increased rate of local hires.

Typically, the contracting agency sets a benchmark on a project that the contractors must meet. In this example, contractors must maintain that a certain percentage of the workers on the project must reside within the city or county in which the project takes place (alternatively, the percentage of total hours worked on the project can be used as a measure). The primary motive of the agency here would be to ensure that the residents of the community are the ones benefiting most from public funds used on this project to maximize the return on taxpayer dollars. This discourages the outsourcing of skilled labor, a not-so-uncommon tactic that some contractors might try in order to cut recruiting and hiring costs. (Remember, the use of local labor is one of the reasons the Davis-Bacon Act was created in 1931.) The benefit that the public entity realizes from these hiring requirements is compounded. Not only are stable career opportunities created for local residents, but the workers’ disposable income may contribute to the local economies and provide additional tax revenue that would have otherwise been displaced along with the transplanted workers once the project was complete.

Another commonly tracked statistical measure that is vital to the longevity of the industry’s success is that of apprentices or on-the-job trainees (OJTs). These recruits are crucial because of the industry’s dependency on new labor entering the market. As many government professionals might already be aware, one of the most common obstacles contractors face daily is obtaining and retaining a sufficient quantity of skilled labor to complete their projects on time and on budget. It has been no secret that the industry has struggled to replenish voids left by retiring workers as socio-economic pressures have increasingly influenced youth to pursue college degrees and white-collar jobs over manual labor (even despite its enticing stability and benefits). This obstacle, among a plethora of others, has kept the industry in a constant battle searching for new skilled labor to keep up with the demand for construction projects.

A New Opportunity

This struggle, however, has positioned the industry in a unique situation. In fact, many feel that this challenge has presented a potential goldmine opportunity. It has left the door open to target new sources of untapped potential in traditionally under-utilized pockets of demographics, giving industry players a chance to fill the labor deficit while also providing career opportunities to individuals who need them the most.

Some localities have taken these hiring requirements to the next level to address these under-represented communities like minorities, the economically impoverished, or other disadvantaged groups. By working together with workforce training programs and supportive services that cater to these individuals, various entities across the country have successfully made a difference in lifting up the most deserving members in their communities with stable careers.

(Read More)

Montpelier ponders employer, wage ordinances (VT)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

By Stephen Mills
9/17/19

MONTPELIER – The City Council is considering crafting responsible employer and livable wage ordinances to make residing in the Capital City more affordable.

Discussion of the proposed ordinances came at a meeting of City Council last week. Councilor Conor Casey proposed enacting a Responsible Employer Ordinance that would require the city of Montpelier to follow “good employer” requirements when spending taxpayer money on contracted services that would include “responsible wages,” worker’s compensation and the proper classification of workers as employees instead of independent contractors, among other employment protections.

The council also reviewed a report on a Livable Wage Ordinance by Michael Sherman, of the Social and Economic Justice Advisory Committee, after the council identified implementing a living wage requirement in Montpelier in its 2018-2019 strategic plan.

Casey noted that the city is going through a recent building boom with the near-completion of Taylor Street Transit Center and shared-use recreation path, and a $16.5 million upgrade for the Waste Water Treatment Facility. The city is also proposing to build a $10.5 million parking garage.

Casey said that construction workers were a “largely invisible” workforce that deserved recognition, employee protections and livable wages.

“I think this is a group that has been sort of been abandoned by the federal government,” Casey said, and referenced the federal Davis-Bacon Act that seeks to ensure minimum wages to be paid to various classes of laborers and mechanics employed under the contract, but added, “It isn’t what is once was.”

“We can actually see people who are risking their lives, working on construction sites, with a wage that would be less than what we want as minimum wage, maybe $12 an hour,” Casey said, adding that the state had opposed appropriate wage structures for construction workers.

“This is an issue I’ve always felt strongly about,” Casey said, noting he has spent his professional career representing “frontline workers.” Casey currently works as an organizer for the Vermont-National Education Association, representing more than 12,000 teachers in the state.

“Even though they might not Montpelier residents, (construction workers) deserve to be treated with the same standards that we treat our own workers,” Casey said, noting that the Montpelier has three collective bargaining units for city workers.

(Read More)

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Krizek presses for prevailing wage law in Virginia (VA)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

June 28, 2019
By State Del. Paul Krizek (44th District)

Virginia is one of just eight states that has never had a prevailing wage law. A majority of states do.

Construction workers on projects covered by prevailing wage laws must be paid the minimum “prevailing” wage and benefit levels that vary by occupation and geographical areas.

The best known prevailing wage law is the federal Davis-Bacon Act, a bipartisan bill from 1931 that applies to all construction with $2,000 or more in federal funding.

Previously, I introduced a prevailing wage bill in the General Assembly in an effort to prevent low bidders on state works projects from undermining local area wages.

Though it didn’t pass, I expect that with a majority democratic General Assembly after the November elections, such a bill has much better odds of passage.

That is a good thing for not just local construction workers who won’t have to worry about their wages going down, but also to our Virginia economy, which will benefit because it supports local businesses with increased productivity, safety and quality workmanship, and provides the taxpayer with high-quality public works projects.

Three things can happen when big construction jobs are bid out without a prevailing wage. First, cut-rate contractors from out of state, or out of the country, may come in hiring less-trained workers and undermining the local market rate, thus bringing down wages for all local workers similarly situated; second, they take taxpayer dollars back to their home states; and finally, they do not invest in worker training.

The old argument that a prevailing wage raises overall construction costs is a fallacy, as higher construction wages are often offset by greater productivity, better technologies, and other employer savings, such as through increased safety.

In fact, in Ohio, “The Economic, Fiscal, and Social Effects of Ohio’s Prevailing Wage Law” peer-reviewed research study, which took 16 years, showed that there was no increase in construction costs based on their prevailing wage.

Furthermore, prevailing wage laws increase the supply of apprenticeships and worker skills. Because, without a prevailing wage law, most construction workers change employers when they move from project to project, so employers have little incentive to invest in worker training.

Finally, worker safety increases because the skilled workers know what they are doing on dangerous work sites, and that saves on workers’ compensation costs and work hours lost to injuries.

The solution is to pay a prevailing wage rate that would be determined by the Commissioner of Labor for public contracts on the basis of applicable prevailing wage rate determinations made by the U.S. Secretary of Labor under the provisions of the federal Davis-Bacon Act.

Then, these workers will have increased consumer purchasing power and spend the bulk of their money in our local community.

They pay taxes locally and at the state level, so it’s no surprise that states with strong prevailing wage laws have more money for schools, healthcare facilities, infrastructure, public safety, and vital services for our communities and our fellow citizens.

Enacting a prevailing wage will grow the economic pie for all Virginians. I’m proud to have patroned this legislation and I look forward to its passage, as it is a top priority of mine.

(See Article)

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USDOL Wage and Hour Division to Host Prevailing Wage Seminars

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on
May 2019

 

Our 2019 seminars will be held in the following locations:
  • Austin, TX, June 18th – 20th: Register Here
  • Anchorage, AK, June 25th – 27th: Register Here
  • Sacramento, CA, July 23rd – 25th
  • Washington, DC, August 13th – 15th
  • Indianapolis, IN, August 27th – 29th
Please note these locations may change.
If you would like to receive email updates about our seminars, please sign up for our mailing list here. (In the category “Wage and Hour” select “WHD – Prevailing Wage Seminar Announcements”)
The Wage and Hour Division (WHD) Prevailing Wage Seminars (Prevailing Wage Seminars) are three-day compliance trainings designed for regional stakeholders (unions, private contractors, state agencies, federal agencies and workers). In these seminars, conference participants will learn about the following:
  • The Davis-Bacon Act and McNamara O’Hara Service Contract Act
  • Executive Order 13495 “Nondisplacement of Qualified Workers”
  • Executive Order 13658 “Establishing a Minimum Wage for Contractors”
  • The process of obtaining wage determinations and adding classifications
  • Compliance assistance and enforcement processes
  • The process for appealing wage rates, coverage, and compliance determinations
Prevailing Wage Seminars for 2018 were held in the following cities:
  • Jacksonville, FL – April 10-12th, 2018
  • San Diego, CA – May 22-24th, 2018
  • Kansas City, MO – June 12-14th, 2018
  • Hato Rey, Puerto Rico – August 27-28th, 2018
If you have any questions please email WHD-PWS@dol.gov

House dumps GOP anti-construction worker scheme, again

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

May 9, 2018 |1:24 PM CDT
BY MARK GRUENBERG

WASHINGTON (PAI)-In what is a perennial battle, a bipartisan coalition of representatives once again defeated right wing Republican Steve King’s scheme to cut construction workers’ pay by dumping the Davis-Bacon Act.

The 172-243 vote came during debate April 26 on legislation renewing the Federal Aviation Administration for another several years. Workers picked up another win on that measure when lobbying by all but one of the unions representing airline workers forced panel chairman Bud Shuster, R-Pa., to dump his plan to privatize the U.S. air traffic control system.

Privatization would have put the system under a supposedly non-partisan board dominated by the airlines. It also would eliminate current worker protections, the anti-privatization unions – including the Communications Workers, the Teamsters and others – said.

Only the National Air Traffic Controllers Association backed privatization. It claimed Shuster kept the worker protections in the new FAA bill, HR4. The House later passed the bill. The AFL-CIO supported the final version.

King tried to take out the construction workers’ pay by his perennial amendment, saying the Davis-Bacon Act would not apply to airport construction. Since the federal government, through ticket taxes, funds most airport construction, that would have cut the wages of any workers toiling on such projects.

Davis-Bacon was introduced and approved by Republicans in the depths of the Great Depression, in 1931. It mandates contractors on all federally funded construction pay locally prevailing wages, set by Labor Department surveys, to their workers.

(Read More)