FY 2023 Davis-Bacon Act Wage Survey Plan

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Davis-Bacon Act Wage Survey Plan

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division will be asking the highway, heavy and building construction industries to participate in Davis-Bacon Act wage surveys in FY 2023 to help the agency establish prevailing wage rates, as required under the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts (DBRA).

The DBRA directs the department to set the prevailing wage rates that reflect the actual wages and fringe benefits paid to construction workers in the local area where the work is performed.

The survey plan for FY 2023 includes active construction project wage data in the following areas and is not limited to federally funded construction projects. Data collection periods are to be determined and posted online. The Wage and Hour Division strongly encourages all stakeholders to participate in these surveys.

State Construction Type Area
North Carolina Highway Statewide
Arizona Highway Statewide
Arizona Heavy Statewide
New Hampshire Building Statewide
Texas Building Metropolitan Counties: Greater San Antonio and Greater Austin
Guam All Types All Areas

Full participation by contractors and interested parties is key to setting accurate prevailing wages and developing complete wage determinations. Accurate wages and complete determinations also reduce the need for contractors to request additional labor classifications.

The best way to participate in the survey is online. The Wage and Hour Division will send notification letters to interested parties and contractors known to the agency. To be included, please submit all data by the survey-specific cutoff date. Contractors and other interested parties do not need to have received a letter to participate in the survey.

Visit our website to learn more about Davis-Bacon and Related Acts and WHD’s Davis-Bacon survey program.

Jersey City electrical subcontractor underpaid workers by nearly $800K in wages, benefits: feds

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

By Ron Zeitlinger | The Jersey Journal
May 13, 2022

A Jersey City electrical subcontractor on a federally funded residential townhome and apartments project in Paterson underpaid 11 electricians by a total of nearly $800,000 in wages and benefits, a federal investigation found.

Deen Electrical Contractors Inc. misclassified the workers at the Riverside Townhomes and Senior Apartments public housing project and paid them as laborers, in violation of the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts, Department of Labor officials said. By doing so, Deen underpaid the electricians for work on the project that was funded through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division led to the recovery of $799,479 in back wages for the 11 electricians.

“Contractors and subcontractors on federally funded projects are legally obligated to accurately identify workers on work sites, pay them the local prevailing wages and fringe benefits and submit weekly certified payroll records to the contracting agency.” Wage and Hour Division District Director Paula Ruffin said.

Officials said that when the federal investigation was completed, Deen Electrical paid the back wages promptly.

Based in Jersey City, Deen Electrical Contractors Inc. has been a family-owned and operated contractor for more than 30 years, serving commercial builders, residential owners and performing work under state and federal contracts in North Jersey and the surrounding area, federal officials said.

Contractors and subcontractors on federally funded projects are required to properly identify workers and pay them the applicable prevailing wage rate, in addition to submitting weekly certified payroll records to the contracting agency. They are also required to post the Davis-Bacon poster on the job site.

(See Article)

City apprenticeship program raises standards for workers and taxpayers (AZ)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

By Jennifer Grøndahl| Karla Walter
November 5, 2019

It’s no secret that Phoenix has become a Baby Boomer mecca. America’s largest generation has been flocking here for years, bringing with them revenue for local businesses and tax dollars for the city, but also their garbage. Garbage that the city now needs to collect.

Phoenix, like many cities, has struggled to keep up with the growing demand for government services like garbage collection, while also facing high retirement rates among aging municipal workers.

But unlike many cities, Phoenix has also come up with an original solution to meet this demand. When the city and LIUNA Local 777, which represents many municipal workers, realized they were facing a shortage of qualified sanitation workers, they partnered to create an innovative apprenticeship program that trains area residents to become skilled sanitation workers while maintaining a high level of service for taxpayers.

As a local leader who helped implement these apprenticeships and a researcher at a national think tank focused on policies to make government work better, we believe the Phoenix-LIUNA Local 777 partnership should serve as a national model.

Through the city’s solid waste equipment operator apprenticeship, workers obtain their commercial driver’s license and receive specialized instruction on operating trucks through narrow city streets and customer service skills. Previously, the city required applicants to have a commercial driver’s license before being hired, which was a significant barrier to employment, because tuition for commercial trucking schools costs thousands of dollars.

By giving sanitation workers an opportunity to earn these skills and credentials while on the job, the city ensures that workforce training is of high quality. Moreover, the Phoenix-LIUNA Local 777 partnership focuses recruitment on women, veterans and youth, attracting employees who reflect Phoenix’s diversity and who might not otherwise have had access to high-quality city jobs.

For apprentices, who are often transitioning from near minimum-wage jobs, city employment offers a significant earnings boost and a clear career path. The involvement of existing city employees makes the apprenticeships a success. Veteran employees help with recruitment and program graduates informally mentor new apprentices.

As a result, the apprenticeship graduates have higher levels of loyalty and motivation to both the City of Phoenix and the union. Nearly all who start the program finish, and despite their more junior status, graduates are among the most successful employees, at times outshining more senior workers.

(Read More)

Feds: Construction Company Imported H-2B Foreign Workers to Pay Low Wages (SD)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

A South Dakota construction company imported foreign workers on the H-2B visa program in order to cut costs and pay lower wages, Labor Department officials say.

By John Binder
Oct. 21, 2019

Every year, U.S. companies are allowed to import 66,000 low-skilled H-2B foreign workers to take blue-collar, non-agricultural jobs. For some time, the H-2B visa program has been used by businesses to bring in cheaper foreign workers and has contributed to blue-collar Americans having their wages undercut.

Dagel Steel Construction, based in Florence, South Dakota, violated federal law by recruiting H-2B foreign workers from South Africa and Mexico to take jobs in the United States only to pay them below-market wages, according to the Labor Department.

The construction company paid H-2B foreign workers low wages, assigned them to work in locations not authorized by the Labor Department, to work jobs outside of the workers’ job descriptions, as well as failing to pay for the workers’ housing costs, visa fees, transportation costs. The company deducted money from the workers’ already low wages.
Labor Department official Betty Campbell said in a statement:

The U.S. Department of Labor sought debarment of Dagel Steel Construction because the employer failed to comply with well-documented requirements of the H-2B Visa Program. The employer’s obligations are clearly detailed during the process of seeking certification to hire temporary foreign laborers.

Now, Dagel Steel Construction will be banned from importing foreign workers through the various H visa programs for five years and must pay nearly $70,000 in back wages to 16 H-2B foreign workers. The company also must pay more than $30,000 in civil penalties.

For nearly three years, President Trump’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has routinely expanded the number of H-2B foreign workers that businesses are allowed to import to take blue-collar U.S. jobs. In May, for example, Acting DHS Secretary Kevin McAleenan approved an additional 30,000 H-2B foreign workers for businesses to import.

(See Article)

unnamed

DC Attorney General alleges electrical contractor misclassified 535 workers (DC)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

By Laurie Cowin
Date: Aug. 7, 2018

Dive Brief:

  • The attorney general for the District of Columbia sued Power Design on Monday, alleging that the Florida-based electrical contractor purposefully misclassified at least 535 construction workers as independent contractors so that it could cut costs, avoid legal responsibilities and evade taxes. The lawsuit also alleges various minimum wage, overtime and other labor violations and claims that senior management was involved in the scheme. In a request for comment, Power Design told Construction Dive that it had not yet been served and that Power Design believes it is in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations in the district.
  • In addition to Power Design, Attorney General Karl A. Racine’s suit also names JVA Services LLC and DDK Electric Inc., two labor brokers hired to staff Power Design work sites.
  • The lawsuit alleges the companies violated the District’s Workplace Fraud Act, which requires companies to classify workers as employees in in most circumstances, as well as the Minimum Wage Revision Act, Sick and Safe Leave Act and Unemployment Compensation Act from 2014 through 2017. It seeks monetary and injunctive relief for the affected employees and recovery of penalties to the District of Columbia, which could be $1,000 to $5,000 for each misclassified worker. Injunctive relief is a court order for a defendant to stop a specified act or behavior.

Dive Insight:

Misclassifying construction-industry employees is an offense many states are taking measures to combat. For example, Colorado’s governor, John Hickenlooper, issued an executive order in June that created a task force to investigate and find ways to address the misclassification of construction employees as independent contractors. Such misclassification not only hurts employees, but because the misclassification is an attempt to have a lower cost of doing business, it also hurts companies who correctly classify employees and therefore have higher bids.

Employee misclassification also leads to workers’ compensation insurance fraud. William Canak, workers’ comp and employment policy expert and professor at Middle Tennessee State University, estimated that up to 30% of construction workers are misclassified.

(Read More)

(Read PDF Report)

Grand Theft Paycheck: The Large Corporations Shortchanging Their Workers’ Wages

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

by Philip Mattera with a chapter on policy recommendations by Adam Shah
June 2018

New research finds that a wide range of big corporations have been shortchanging the people who work for them Washington, DC-A new report finds that many large corporations operating in the United States have boosted their profits by forcing employees to work off the clock, cheating them out of required overtime pay and engaging in similar practices that together are known as wage theft.

The detailed analysis of federal and state court records shows that these corporations have paid out billions of dollars to resolve wage theft lawsuits brought by workers. Walmart, which has long been associated with such practices, has paid the most, but the list of the most-penalized employers also includes Bank of America, Wells Fargo and other large banks and insurance companies as well as major technology and healthcare corporations. Many of the large corporations are repeat offenders, and 450 firms have each paid out $1 million or more in settlements and/or judgments.

These are among the findings in Grand Theft Paycheck: The Large Corporations Shortchanging Their Workers’ Wages published today by the Corporate Research Project of Good Jobs First and Jobs With Justice Education Fund. It is available at www.goodjobsfirst.org/wagetheft

“Our findings make it clear that wage theft goes far beyond sweatshops, fast-food outlets and retailers. It is built into the business model of a substantial portion of Corporate America,” said Good Jobs First Research Director Philip Mattera, the lead author of the report.

(Read More – Press Release)

(PDF Copy of Full Report)

(Read More)

San Jose, Calif., Weighs Boost for Construction Project Workers

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

By Joyce E. Cutler
March 27, 2018

Private construction projects in San Jose, Calif., that receive $3 million or more in tax breaks or other public financial support would have to pay prevailing wages and hire local workers under a proposal the city council is expected to consider next week.

“There are three basic challenges we’re trying to grapple with. One is a severe shortage of affordable housing and of housing supply generally; substantial shortage of construction labor, which are driving up construction costs; and third, a growing gap between those who are benefiting from the great prosperity here in the Bay Area and those who are gasping for air with the rising tide,” Liccardo said.

Local Standards

The proposal would require that employers on the projects pay a wage-and-benefits package that’s at least equivalent to the state-determined levels for the work and geographic area. At least 30 percent of the workers on a qualifying project within the city would have to live within 50 miles of the job site. A quarter of apprentice hours would have to go to disadvantaged workers. Projects would have monitoring and compliance provisions.

The requirements would cover projects that receive at least $3 million in public subsidies, including money, land, or other direct financial assistance or a substantial reduction in fees or taxes.

“The end goal is to provide good quality jobs to local workers. And whether we do that by way of initiative or reaching a compromise by the more conventional channels is not so important to us,” Ben Field, South Bay Labor Council executive officer, told Bloomberg Law.

Union-Backed Initiative

The agreement was reached after negotiations with the South Bay Labor Council, Working Partnerships USA, the Santa Clara-San Benito Counties Building Trades, and the Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing, and Sprinkler Fitters (MEPS) unions, Liccardo said in a memo to the council.

“One of the best ways to ensure that good quality jobs go to local workers is to provide a prevailing wage,” Field said March 23. “One of the basic problems that we’re seeing here is middle class jobs are disappearing. A large part of the reason is the construction workforce is not being paid adequately.” Would-be construction workers aren’t going into trades or crafts where the wages are depressed.

(Read More)

Albany retrieves $35M in wages stolen from N.Y. workers

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

BY GLENN BLAIN
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Tuesday, April 3, 2018, 8:30 PM

ALBANY – State investigators recovered more than $35.3 million in stolen wages in 2017 – a boost of over $1.3 million from the year before, officials announced Tuesday.

The wages were returned to 36,446 workers across New York, including 15,577 in the city, who were not properly compensated for their time on the job.

“We have zero tolerance for those who seek to rob employees out of an honest day’s pay for an honest day’s work,” Gov. Cuomo said.

Since taking office in 2011, Cuomo has made wage theft a priority for the state Labor Department and other agencies. With the 2017 figures, the state has now returned $258.4 million to 215,335 workers.

The state’s just-approved 2018-19 budget included $1 million to fund the Labor Department’s efforts to investigate wage theft, Cuomo added.

Among the most common forms of wage theft are failure to pay overtime, failure to pay the correct prevailing wage and the charging of workers for required uniforms and equipment.

State officials urged workers who wish to file a wage theft complaint to call (888) 4-NYSDOL.

(See Article)

The Effect of Prevailing Wage Repeals on Construction Income and Benefits

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Feb. 2018

Journal of Public Works Management and Policy

Ari Fenn, Zhi Li, Gabriel Pleites, Chimedlkham Zorigtbaatar and Peter Philips – University of Utah

While considerable research has examined the effects of prevailing wage law repeals on construction wages, little has been done on the repeals effect on benefits. Based on state-level data from the quinquennial Economic Census for construction from 1972 to 2012, we find that depending on sample and model specification, statewide annual average construction blue-collar income fell by 1.9% to 4.2%. Statewide annual average legally required benefits (social security, workers injury-compensation insurance, and unemployment insurance contributions) for blue- and white-collar construction employees combined fell from 3.8% to 10.1%. Statewide annual average voluntary benefits (primarily health insurance, pension contributions, and apprenticeship training) for blue- and white-collar construction employees combined fell from 11.2% to 16.0%. Because prevailing wage laws govern only blue-collar construction remuneration, blue-collar benefits probably fell more than blue- and white-collar benefits taken together.

(Download Full PDF Here)

New CA law requires contractors to assume subs’ unpaid wages

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

AUTHOR – Kim Slowey
PUBLISHED – Dec. 1, 2017

Dive Brief:

  • California contractors acting as direct contractors on private construction projects will be financially responsible for any wages, fringe benefits and union contributions left unpaid by subcontractors and their sub-tiers, per a new law signed by Gov. Jerry Brown, JD Supra reported. The law encompasses all private contracts entered into starting Jan. 1.
  • Direct contractors will not have to pay any penalties or liquidated damages that arise from a subcontractors neglecting to pay their employees, but the law will require direct contractors to monitor closely their subcontractors’ payrolls.
  • The law allows for direct contractors to withhold payment from any subcontractor that does not provide the required payroll records. To protect against having to assume any subcontractors’ or their sub-tiers’ unpaid costs, direct contractors should add indemnity language to their subcontracts.

(Read More)