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City council passes ordinances to protect workers’ rights

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

by Malea Martin / Mountain View Voice
Uploaded: Wed, Sep 14, 2022

Employees in Mountain View will soon have increased labor protections thanks to a pair of ordinances passed by the city council Tuesday night – though some members of the public raised concerns that the ordinances don’t go far enough to protect workers on the city’s own projects.

The Wage Theft and Responsible Construction ordinances first came to the council in October 2021 as a study session item. Nearly a year later, the council had its first reading of the ordinances at its Aug. 30 meeting before passing the ordinances with a few adjustments at its Sept. 13 meeting.

The purpose of the ordinances is “to help ensure accountability and compliance with existing state wage and hour laws, enhance the protection of workers’ rights, and support the city’s existing minimum wage ordinance,” said Christina Gilmore, assistant to the city manager, at the Aug. 30 meeting.

In the case of the Wage Theft Ordinance, staff proposed that the business license process be used to connect with Mountain View employers and seek compliance with state wage and hour laws, according to the council report from the Aug. 30 meeting.

“As part of this process, all businesses would be required to submit an affidavit attesting that the business does not have any unsatisfied labor law judgments or orders,” the report said, and the city would investigate potentially false attestations on a complaint basis.

Similarly, for the Responsible Construction Ordinance, staff in 2021 proposed using the city’s building permit process to achieve wage protections for workers employed in construction projects. Owners, contractors and subcontractors on projects at and above 15,000 square feet would be required to submit a Pay Transparency Acknowledgement form at the beginning of the permit application process, and then a second Pay Attestation form before reaching the end of the project.

After the 2021 study session, staff made a few adjustments before bringing the ordinances back to council for the first reading on Aug. 30. For instance, businesses with no employees would be exempt from the wage theft ordinance requirements. Staff also incorporated stronger consequences for non-compliance with the Responsible Construction ordinance, such as the certificate of occupancy being withheld for failure to submit the form or in the case of a sustained complaint of wage theft.

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Wage Theft Ordinance Passes

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

KC Labor Beacon
Nov. 24, 2021

Another success in our ongoing fight against wage theft! Recently, Kansas City, Mo city council passed its first ever Wage Theft ordinance to hold cheating contractors accountable. Members of organized labor joined Councilman Kevin O’Neill after  the first ever Wage Theft ordinance was passed\. The ordinance will criminalize those contractors who use labor brokers, 1099s, pay cash without certified payrolls and other forms of illegal payments to workers. The new Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity Department will enforce prevailing wage, wage theft and city tax evaders by monitoring all worksites that are either contracted with the city or have city incentives tied to their project. In addition, changes were made to the Fairness in Construction Board which will include four new members. The board will include a member from organized labor, one from the Associated General Contractors and two from the community.

Easthampton City Council to consider wage theft ordinance (NY)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

By MICHAEL CONNORS
Staff Writer
Published: 7/26/2019 3:12:28 PM

Easthampton – The city is exploring new rules that would require construction employers who are either hired by the city or receive municipal tax relief to abide by a set of conditions in an effort to discourage wage theft.

The proposed amendment to the city ordinances is set for a public hearing in front of the City Council on Aug. 7. It requires any bidder, proposer, contractor or subcontractor receiving public funds or tax relief to sign an affidavit stating they will abide by wage laws, attempt to meet certain diversity requirements and submit detailed records of employee work to the city.

City Councilor Owen Zaret said the proposal comes at a time when the city is planning to fund multiple construction projects. He said having rules on the books to protect construction workers from theft was an important step going forward.

“I think it’s important to make a statement through … municipal projects in Easthampton that (workers) are classified, covered and paid appropriately,” Zaret said. “It’s about fairness for workers and workers’ rights.”

Too often, he said, contractors classify laborers as independent contractors instead of employees – allowing them to not have to pay employer taxes on workers or provide employment insurance such as workers’ compensation. There can also be instances of workers not being paid for the amount of hours worked, he said.

Though Zaret said he was not personally aware of any such activity happening in Easthampton, he believes the city should follow the example of other cities like Springfield, which passed a similar ordinance in 2018.

Under the proposal, contractors hired for work by the city must prove, on a weekly basis, that they have not been debarred or found to be in violation of labor laws in the past five years, provide accident insurance, classify workers as employees, pay fair wages and give employment preference to Easthampton residents.

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City may refuse licenses to companies convicted of wage theft

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Maria Garcia

POSTED: 06:28 PM MDT Oct 20, 2014 
UPDATED: 06:37 PM MDT Oct 20, 2014

EL PASO, Texas – The City of El Paso is preparing an ordinance meant to deter companies from stealing wages from workers. The City Council on Monday unanimously voted to direct the City Manager to draft a wage theft ordinance that would mirror the City of Houston’s law.

Houston’s ordinance forbids any person or company from obtaining or renewing any City license or permit for five years if the company has been convicted of wage theft and exhuasted all appeals. Barring persons from city licenses essentially bans them from working within the City. The ordinance also bars the city from hiring people or firms criminally convicted or assessed civil penalties or judgments related to wage theft, again provided appeals are exhausted and a civil judgment in favor of the worker goes unpaid.

The Paso Del Norte Civil Rights Project, in 2011, did a study of how many workers have been victims of wage theft and say the problem is rampant. For example, they say as many as 67-percent of low wage workers aren’t paid the overtime they’re owed.