Davis-Bacon Wage Survey Plan

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USDOL News – April 20, 2022

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division announces its Davis-Bacon Wage Survey Plan set to begin in 2022. Construction workers working on Davis-Bacon and related Acts (DBRA) covered contracts must be paid prevailing wages, which are determined by surveys of wages paid on construction projects underway or recently completed within a geographic area.

As the Wage and Hour Division begins its wage survey process, we are reaching out to contractors, contracting agencies, unions, and others in the construction industry to ensure that all stakeholders have an opportunity to participate in the wage survey process.

The division is planning wage rate surveys for Highway construction in:

  • Florida
  • Georgia
  • New Hampshire
  • West Virginia

The division is also planning wage rate surveys for Building construction in:

  • Maine

The division is also planning wage rate surveys for Building, Heavy, Highway, and Residential construction in:

  • Guam

Stakeholders can find the list of 2022 currently planned surveys here, as well as the status of surveys that are currently in progress.

The criteria used to determine areas where a survey should be performed are:

  1. Age of the previous survey
  2. Federal procurement agency plans for construction
  3. Whether stakeholders have requested a new survey of a construction type in a state or locality
  4. Whether public and private data reviews show wages in a locality have sufficiently changed to warrant a new wage determination

The Wage and Hour Division will provide outreach in each survey area to inform stakeholders how to participate in the survey process.

If you have suggestions regarding geographic areas and construction types that you believe should be considered for the 2022 or 2023 Survey Plan, please send your suggestions via email to DB-Wage-Survey-Request@dol.gov.

For more information regarding the Davis-Bacon and related Acts and the Davis-Bacon survey program, please visit the division’s website.

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Amherst councilors propose bylaws to enforce wage, labor laws (NH)

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By SCOTT MERZBACH
Published: 2/25/2020

AMHERST – The Town Council is considering a package of bylaws that would give Amherst officials some oversight in making sure workers are getting minimum wage and that other labor laws are being followed, such as workers being paid appropriately for overtime work and receiving tips.

Collectively known as wage theft bylaws, the proposal is being brought forward by District 1 Councilor Cathy Schoen, District 2 Councilor Pat DeAngelis and At Large Councilor Mandi Jo Hanneke, and would bring Amherst in line with Northampton, Easthampton, Springfield, Cambridge, and other communities that have adopted similar bylaws and ordinances.

The first, known as the responsible employer bylaw, would mandate that the town award contracts only to companies following the laws, Hanneke said. It would require any contractor to certify, in writing, that they are in compliance with wage, hour and benefits laws, and have not had violations for the past five years.

The second, the tax incentive or tax relief bylaw, would mean such agreements, under the purview of the Town Council, can be granted only to businesses that follow the bylaw. The bylaw would also have provisions for rescinding or reducing tax incentives.

The third, the wage and tip bylaw, applies to the service industry and offers the potential for fines or possible license loss if workers are not paid appropriately. The bylaw would also create a Wage Theft Advisory Committee that includes members of the Licensing Commission, Human Rights Commission, Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce and Pioneer Valley Workers Center. In addition, the bylaw would require the posting of rights in all establishments and information on how to report a violation or file a complaint.

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A Massive Win For Building Trades Workers As Prevailing Wage Law Passes Legislature (NH)

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5-3-19
Posted by NH Labor News

The House of Representatives voted 213-140 yesterday to pass SB 271, which would require prevailing wages on state-funded public works projects.

“All workers employed by or on behalf of any contractor, subcontractor, or hiring agent engaged in the construction of public works for the state of New Hampshire or any agency, officer, board, commission, or authorized agent of the state shall be paid a wage of not less than the minimum prevailing hourly rate of wages and benefits for work of a similar character in the county in which the work is performed.”

This new law would ensure that workers are paid fairly for the work they are doing and mandates payroll requirements to ensure that workers are being paid properly. Along with ensuring proper payments to workers the bill provides protections for the state agencies to withhold payment for contractors who fail to meet the prevailing wage requirement and bars them from future contracts.

Representative Brian Sullivan (D-Grantham), Chair of the House Labor Committee, released the following statement:

“Reestablishing a prevailing wage law in New Hampshire will ensure that construction workers receive fair wages on jobs funded by New Hampshire tax dollars. Prevailing wage standards assure that state construction projects are awarded to contractors that produce efficient, high quality work, and help keep local tax dollars in the state, going to local workers and local companies. It is past time that New Hampshire joins its New England neighbors in enacting this common sense policy, which assures competitive wages are paid on taxpayer-funded projects.”

Senator Feltes (D-Concord), the prime sponsor of SB 271, released the following statement after the vote:

“Prevailing wage laws ensure that construction workers receive fair wages and help keep New Hampshire taxpayer dollars going to local workers and local companies. It’s great to see the Senate take the first step to make tax dollars work for New Hampshire working families by joining our New England neighbors to enact this common sense policy.”

(Read More)

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My Turn: The conservative case for a prevailing wage (NH)

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By TROY MERNER
Published: 5/8/2019 12:10:20 AM

There’s an old saying that the best social welfare program is a “good-paying job with excellent benefits,” and I couldn’t possibly agree more. While most elected officials agree with this idea in principle, we often disagree on the best path forward. New Hampshire has some of the best-trained and hardest workers in the country, and it’s high time we treated them accordingly. This is why I’m asking my fellow Republicans to support Senate Bill 271 and finally establish a prevailing wage in New Hampshire.

Prevailing wage law states that contractors must offer competitive wages and benefits on taxpayer-funded projects. This accomplishes two things: First, it ensures that public projects enjoy a quality of workmanship that cut-rate contractors cannot provide, saving taxpayers millions of dollars over the long term. Second, it affords locally trained New Hampshire workers the ability to work close to home. Many of our best-trained workers are forced to seek employment in neighboring states where prevailing wage ensures that pay is higher, while local construction jobs go to out-of-state contractors offering a lower quality of service.

A recent study by economists at the Keystone Research Center, a nonpartisan economic policy organization, concluded that establishing a prevailing wage in New Hampshire would add up to 4,000 local jobs to our economy because it would diminish out-of-state contractors’ ability to undercut our local workforce. This law would also provide health coverage to approximately 2,500 construction workers – reducing the number of our hard-working men and women who rely on the government for assistance. The same study concluded that passing a prevailing wage would increase economic activity by $680 million in New Hampshire and raise up to $17 million in new state and local tax revenue.

Passing a prevailing wage also establishes an enforcement protocol to ensure that contractors don’t miscategorize workers or hire undocumented workers to artificially lower their bids. This malicious practice both undercuts our local workforce and provides a lower quality of service on taxpayer-funded projects.

…

(Troy Merner, a Lancaster Republican, represents Coos District 7 in the N.H. House of Representatives.)

(Read More)

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Labor Union Says Workplace Violations Widespread in N.H. (NH)

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By SARAH GIBSON * APR 16, 2019

A local labor union is urging lawmakers to support legislation to combat what it says is a growing problem with workers compensation and wage theft in New Hampshire.

Members of the New England Regional Council of Carpenters say companies are using a loophole to underpay workers and underreport employees, by misclassifying these employees as independent contractors.

At an event organized by the union Monday, Rudolph Ogden, a deputy commissioner at the N.H. Department of Labor, told NHPR it’s not just carpenters who are getting shortchanged.

“For 20 years people have talked about misclassification and they said it’s all in construction and many said it’s all drywallers,” he said. “Now we’re seeing that it’s not just in construction; it’s in a variety of industries.”

When a company pretends its employees are independent contractors, it doesn’t have to provide workers comp if they’re injured, and it doesn’t pay as much in business taxes.

“We can’t compete with a company that doesn’t pay its workers and that doesn’t pay workers’ compensation,” said Richard Pelletier, of Auburn, N.H. His company, Universal Drywall, was fined for misclassification for projects in Massachusetts, but he says he’s since become a union contractor.

Pelletier and other representatives from union contractors said they do most of their business in Massachusetts because they’re so often undercut by companies in New Hampshire that reduce overhead costs by misclassifying workers and paying many under the table in cash.

The union is backing Senate Bill 151, a Democrat-sponsored bill that would make it easier for the DOL to issue stop work orders, but some in the industry fear it would slow down building projects.

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NH Voices: Jeff Sullivan — Prevailing wage: Working families prevail (NH)

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By JEFF SULLIVAN
Apr 7, 2019

MR. REAP’S RECENT commentary on SB 271 (An Act to Require Prevailing Wages on State-Funded Public Works Projects) misses the mark and distorts the reality. Trying to turn the debate to a union issue is an effort to contort the facts, and the benefits, of the proposed legislation.

Despite wide-spread public misconception, a misconception also apparently shared by the CEO of the Associated Builders of New Hampshire (he should know better), prevailing wage is not “union” wage. Prevailing wage, both federally and in the states with similar laws, is based upon extensive surveys conducted in which contractors disclose wages and benefits paid to its workforce. There is no distinction between union and non-union workers. These surveys will then set direction for wage rates to be paid to construction workers on government-funded projects.

The “facts” tossed around by Mr. Reap have no support when put to the test. Simply put, a prevailing wage law will require contractors to compete for public projects in New Hampshire based on a set of criteria that ensures its workforce is the best-trained, best-equipped and best managed. Projects will be awarded to high-performing contractors; not to those that can assemble the cheapest, least-trained workforce. It is no coincidence that jurisdictions with prevailing wage law protections have the lowest incidence of workplace injury and death. Supporters of SB 271 understand all the ancillary benefits of a well-codified prevailing wage law.

Mr. Reap’s loudest claim is that prevailing wage will drive up the costs of construction and that the sky will fall with “higher property taxes…service cuts [and] busted budgets.” These are the bellwether sounds of those who try to influence public policy by threatening taxpayers with threats of increased government intrusion into our pockets. Again, the facts of prevailing wage laws in other jurisdictions belie these assertions.

In a recent, first-of-its-kind nationwide study on the impact of state prevailing wage laws, the reality of legislation such as SB 271 was proven to provide positive results across economic, social and fiscal areas. In its nationwide survey, “The Economic, Fiscal and Social Impacts of State Prevailing Wage Laws: Choosing Between the High Road and the Low Road in the Construction Industry” (Manzo, et al, 2016), it was shown that states with prevailing wage laws have higher workmanship, productivity and job-safety than states with no prevailing wage protections. Additionally, states without prevailing wage laws have a higher percentages of public health insurance and other forms of public assistance. New Hampshire’s rolls of those on public assistance is a prime exhibit in support of the argument that good paying jobs are the best social program any state can provide its citizens.

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Construction industry, unions duel over state prevailing wage bill (NH)

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NH Senate measure targets all state public works projects

BY BOB SANDERS – Published: February 13, 2019

A measure under consideration in the NH Senate would require contractors on state public works projects to pay the prevailing wage to workers, but it’s not the wages – it’s the benefits and paperwork that concerned several New Hampshire contractors speaking at a hearing Tuesday before the NH Senate Commerce Committee.

Several trade union representatives at the hearing countered that Senate Bill 271 is really not aimed at local contractors, but those outside New Hampshire, drawn here because it is the only New England state without prevailing wage requirements. (Some 24 states don’t have such laws, although the closest one to New Hampshire without one is in Virginia)

“At the end of the day, tax dollars of Granite Staters should go to local workers and local companies,” said Sen. Dan Feltes, D-Concord, the bill’s prime sponsor.

Feltes cited a 2016 study about the benefits of a prevailing wage: At least $300 million in economic activity resulting in some 1,700 jobs and tax revenues of 7.3 percent.

…

But union representatives said that the lack of a prevailing wage makes New Hampshire a magnet for out-of-state contractors that do pay both lower wages and benefits, often using undocumented immigrant labor, “and it undercuts our local contractors,” said Denis R. Beaudoin, business manager of IBEW Local 490, the electricians’ union. The construction industry has only replaced 2,000 of the 9,000 jobs it lost during the recession, he said, adding: “How can we justify the work going out of state?”
And while contractors testified that they offer health benefits, they don’t match other union benefits, like an apprentice program, said David Pelletier, business manager of UA Local 131, the plumbers and pipefitters union.

“Unions do provide more benefits than open shops,” acknowledged Abbott. One business did back the prevailing wage bill: American Income Life, a Londonderry insurance firm.

Kris Thieme, an agent from the company, countered contractors’ claim that a prevailing wage would drive up construction costs. He said soft costs, like engineering and architecture, were a bigger factor than labor. Besides, he said, if workers don’t have good benefits or wages, they would be more likely to receive state subsidies for healthcare, which would be passed on to taxpayers.

SB 271 would only apply to state projects, not municipal or school construction jobs, but the NH Municipal Association was concerned that the language wasn’t clear enough on that matter, since many local projects involved state funding.


(Read More)

AG: Company failed to pay correct wages at Bresnahan, other public works jobs

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Bresnahan School one of public works projects involved

Staff Reports
July 13, 2017

NEWBURYPORT – A New Hampshire construction company was fined more than $160,000 in restitution and penalties for failing to properly pay employees on nine public works projects, including Bresnahan Elementary School, the attorney general said Wednesday.

Attorney General Maura Healey’s office issued three citations against Northeast Partition Specialties Inc. and owner Fredrick Breth for their failure to pay the prevailing wage, pay overtime and submit accurate certified payroll records for the projects done in 2014-15.

“Companies that do business in Massachusetts must play by the rules,” Healey said. “Prevailing wage laws are intended to ensure a level playing field for companies and provide a real, living wage to workers.”

Northeast is a small, privately held corporation in Manchester, New Hampshire.
The Attorney General’s Office began an investigation of the company after the Fair Labor Division received a complaint from a former employee claiming he was not paid the prevailing wage rate for two public works projects between April 2015 and September 2015.

The investigation found that Northeast failed to pay the proper prevailing wage rate to 27 employees for these public works projects: Staff Sergeant James J. Hill School, Revere; Bresnahan Elementary School, Newburyport; the Acushnet police facility; the Chelmsford Fire Department; Dracut Town Hall; the Sudbury Police Department; Park Avenue Elementary, Webster; West Bridgewater Middle-Senior High School; and the Westborough Fire Department.

…

Under the Massachusetts Prevailing Wage Law, contractors and subcontractors working on public projects must pay their employees a special minimum wage, which is based on the occupational classification for the type of work the employees perform.

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New Study: Prevailing Wage Law Would Boost New Hampshire Jobs, the State Economy, and In-State Contractors

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January 14, 2016
A new study released today by leading national researchers on the construction industry finds that a proposed New Hampshire prevailing wage law would boost the state economy by at least $300 million, create several thousand jobs, and increase state and local tax revenue by up to $17 million.

The report, published by the Keystone Research Center (KRC), an independent non-partisan economic policy group, was released in advance of hearings in Concord next week on the proposed prevailing wage law. New Hampshire is the only state in New England and the Northeast that does not have such a law.

The study uses a growing body of peer reviewed research, data from the Economic Census of Construction, and industry-standard IMPLAN software to analyze the impact of prevailing wage standards for skilled construction industry trades on the New Hampshire economy as a whole and on construction workers’ wages, benefits and reliance on taxpayer-funded public benefit programs.

(PDF of Press Release)

(PDF Copy of Full Study)

Feds join N.H. worker misclassification efforts

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BY BOB SANDERS
Published: November 17, 2014

The federal government is getting involved in helping New Hampshire in its enforcement efforts against misclassification of independent contractors, especially when it relates to workers’ compensation.

New Hampshire last week became the 15th state to join the federal Labor Department’s misclassification initiative; Massachusetts followed suit on Monday.

“Misclassification of workers steals benefits and protections from employees and allows unfair advantages to businesses that do it,” said New Hampshire Labor Commissioner James W. Craig. “This agreement will help us grow our state and regional economy by leveling the playing field for honest and law-abiding employers.”

New Hampshire has grappled with the murky world of independent contractor classification for decades. Definitions change depending on the law involved, and enforcement is uneven.

The state Department of Employment Security, for instance, has found misclassification in nearly a quarter of the audits it conducts. But the state Department of Labor only has fined a fraction of those fined by the Employment Security and has drastically reduced most of the fines imposed.

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