unnamed

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)

Biden issues executive orders to spur clean energy construction

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Published June 7, 2022 – Construction Dive
Julie Strupp, Editor

Dive Brief:

President Joe Biden announced on Monday three executive orders under the Defense Production Act to increase domestically manufactured clean energy technology and boost clean energy construction projects.

The orders aim to expand manufacturing of critical clean energy technologies and put the financial power of federal procurement behind clean energy. It also seeks to boost solar panel supply in order to accelerate solar projects, which are one of the priorities in the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

America’s solar industry is facing tariffs on solar panels imported from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, which supply about 80% of U.S. panels and parts. The tariffs have delayed or canceled hundreds of utility-scale solar projects; one of Biden’s orders provides a two-year tariff exemption to support construction projects in the United States right now, according to the White House press release.

Dive Insight:

The president can invoke the 1950 DPA to order private businesses to prioritize the production of materials that have been deemed necessary for national defense. In addition to pausing tariffs amid an ongoing Commerce Department probe to shore up the solar supply chain and prioritizing federal purchase of U.S.-made solar systems, Biden authorized the Department of Energy to rapidly expand domestic manufacturing of:

  • Solar panel parts.
  • Building insulation.
  • Heat pumps for buildings.
  • Equipment to make and use clean electricity-generated fuels.
  • Critical power grid infrastructure like transformers.

The administration said the new orders will help the government meet its goal of eliminating carbon from the country’s power supply by 2035, and will protect clean energy jobs and builds.

“Together, these actions will spur domestic manufacturing, construction projects and good-paying jobs – all while cutting energy costs for families, strengthening our grid, and tackling climate change and environmental injustice,” the White House release said.

The executive actions come after the Biden administration in May launched the IIJA-funded Interconnection Innovation e-Xchange to get more sources of clean energy connected to the national power grid. The Act includes $65 billion in clean energy investments.

(See Article)

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)