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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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Senate confirms Looman as DOL Wage and Hour administrator

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Justin R. Barnes & Jeffrey W. Brecher
10.26.23

The Senate has confirmed Principal Deputy Administrator Jessica Looman as the head of the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) by a 51-46 vote.

The WHD enforces the federal minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and child labor requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act, as well as other employment standards and worker protections under other statutes.

Since January 20, 2021, Looman had been serving as the Principal Agency Administrator, a role designated to permit her to lead the WHD while her nomination was pending without triggering litigation. An effort late last year to have Looman confirmed through unanimous consent was unsuccessful.

Previously, Looman served in various capacities in her home state of Minnesota, including as executive director of the state Building and Construction Trades Council, commissioner of the state’s Commerce Department, and deputy commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry.

This is a key time for the WHD. The Department of Labor proposed new regulations in August that would substantially increase the number of workers who would be eligible for overtime compensation. The key provision of the rulemaking would provide overtime pay to salaried employees earning less than $55,068 annually. If the proposal is finalized, millions more salaried workers could be eligible for overtime compensation. More than 100 business groups have asked Looman to extend the comment period for the new overtime regulations given the significant impact of the proposed rulemaking.

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Final Rule Effective for the Davis-Bacon Act

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Updating the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts Regulations
Oct. 23, 2023

Effective today, October 23, 2023, the U.S. Department of Labor implemented the final rule, “Updating the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts Regulations.” This implementation follows the official publishing of the final rule in the Federal Register on August 23, 2023.

The change in regulation provides greater clarity and enhances the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts (DBRA) regulations’ effectiveness in the modern economy. Updates to the regulations strengthen and streamline the process for setting and enforcing prevailing wage rates on federally funded construction projects. This ensures that when the federal government invests in infrastructure, it also invests in workers.

These regulatory changes improve the department’s ability to administer and enforce DBRA labor standards effectively and efficiently. These changes include:

  • Creating several efficiencies in the prevailing wage update system and ensuring prevailing wage rates keep up with actual wages, which over time would mean higher wages for workers.
  • Returning to the definition of “prevailing wage” used from 1935 to 1983 to ensure prevailing wages reflect actual wages paid to workers in the local community.
  • Periodically updating prevailing wage rates to address out-of-date wage determinations.
  • Providing broader authority to adopt state or local wage determinations when certain criteria are met.
  • Issuing supplemental rates for key job classifications when no survey data exists.
  • Updating the regulatory language to better reflect modern construction practices.
  • Strengthening worker protections and enforcement, including debarment and new anti-retaliation provisions.

Visit our website for more information on the Davis-Bacon Final Rule and the Davis-Bacon Act.

Davis-Bacon Regulations in the Federal Register

POINT: Strong prevailing-wage standards help grow the economy

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

The Sun Chronicle
By Karla Walter Oct 20, 2023

The trickle-down strategies of the last several decades — defined by tax cuts for the wealthy — didn’t work and, in fact, led to stagnating incomes for everyone else.

However, the Biden administration’s vision for growth is clear: The Inflation Reduction Act, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and CHIPS and Science Act chart a new path based on the philosophy that the economy is strongest when it grows from the “middle out and bottom up.”

These sweeping economic laws build out public investment in 21st century infrastructure and support domestic competitiveness in key sectors, all while strengthening protections to ensure new public investment benefits working people from all walks of life.

At times, pundits portrayed Bidenomics as a gamble, but key elements of the laws’ middle-class protections — such as prevailing-wage standards — are proven strategies that raise standards for workers, support law-abiding contractors and ensure the public receives good value for the investments paid for by tax dollars.

The overwhelming majority of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, CHIPS and Science Act funds, and the IRA’s tax credit programs are protected by the Davis-Bacon Act — a 90-year-old law that requires corporations receiving federal funds to pay construction workers market — or “prevailing” — wages and benefits.

Prevailing-wage standards, also frequently adopted by state and local policymakers, prevent the government from driving down standards when it acts as a purchaser of goods and services. Private-sector recipients are required to provide workers with wages and fringe benefits comparable to those paid to other similarly placed workers in the region.

Research shows that prevailing-wage laws improve workers’ lives by supporting middle-class pay, ensuring union wage rates are not undercut, expanding health insurance and retirement coverage, and closing the income gap between white and Black construction workers.

DOL Increases Hourly Minimum Wage to $17.20 for Federal Contractors Starting January 1, 2024

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

JD Supra
October 4, 2023

Beginning on January 1, 2024, Executive Order 14026 (Order) will raise the minimum wage for workers performing work on or in connection with covered contracts to from $16.20 to $17.20 per hour, a second year of a significant adjustment to the minimum wage for service and construction workers doing work on federal projects. Government contractors in the service and construction sectors should evaluate how the minimum wage increase will affect their operations and pricing strategies when bidding on new government contracts.

The Evolution of Federal Contract Minimum Wage

This Order builds upon the foundation laid by Executive Order 13658, which initially established a minimum wage of $10.10 per hour for federal contract workers in 2014. Since then, the minimum wage has seen incremental increases. In 2021, the Biden administration issued Executive Order 14026, adjusting the wage upward to $15.00 per hour with annual adjustments issued by the Department of Labor (DOL) each calendar year, and which automatically become effective on January 1.

Who Is Affected by Executive Order 14026?

The Order broadly affects federal contracts and subcontracts and applies to:

  1. contracts subject to the Davis-Bacon Act (DBA), governing wage rates on federal construction projects and
  2. contracts covered by the Service Contract Act (SCA), which regulates service contracts.

Compliance and Enforcement

  1. The DOL is responsible for enforcing compliance with the Order. Contractors found to be in violation may face penalties, including the withholding of contract funds.
  2. Contractors are required to maintain comprehensive records of employees’ wages, hours worked, and other relevant data related to covered contracts, facilitating the enforcement of the order.
  3. Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 52.222-55, Minimum Wages for Contractors Under Executive Order 14026 (distinguished from the former FAR provision with the same number but a different name) should have been modified into applicable contracts or subcontracts that were solicited, renewed, or extended after January 31, 2022.
  4. From the effective date of the modification that incorporated the new provision through December 31, 2022, the applicable minimum wage was $15.00 per hour.
  5. Effective January 1, 2023, the minimum wage became $16.20 per hour. The DOL may issue increases to the minimum wage that will be effective each year on January 1.
  6. At this point, a contract for services or construction should contain the new FAR clause. If it does not, the obligation to pay the higher minimum wage does not apply. However, to avoid possible investigations by the DOL and disgruntled employees, we recommend bringing the issue to the attention of the contracting officer or prime contractor immediately and retroactively applying the wage requirements.
  7. You may request a price adjustment for the actual difference in wages and fringe benefits you have to pay as a result of a change, and you should do so within thirty (30) days of the change in wage rate.
  8. This requirement applies to non-exempt workers on contracts subject to the DBA and SCA, as well as any non-exempt employee working in connection with a covered contract.

(See Article)

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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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Healey, Campbell push legislation to fight wage theft

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

State House News Service
September 20, 2023

Vulnerable workers, including immigrants who do not know their rights or are fearful of employer retaliation, could gain stronger protections against pervasive wage theft under legislation that is supported by Attorney General Andrea J. Campbell and Gov. Maura T. Healey but has failed to win over Democrats on Beacon Hill for years.

Campbell on Sept. 19 publicly voiced her support for proposals that would strengthen her office’s authority to crack down on wage theft and protect Massachusetts from lost economic growth, jobs, and taxes. The latest version of the bill is being billed as a compromise between labor and business.

Legislation sponsored by Rep. Daniel Donahue and Sen. Sal DiDomenico (H. 1868 / S. 1158) would allow Campbell to file a civil action seeking injunctive relief for damages, lost wages, and other benefits for workers. Campbell also would have the authority to investigate wage theft complaints and seek civil remedies for violations, as well as to issue stop-work orders against contractors or businesses who are violating wage theft provisions.

“Access to a decent paying job and benefits is absolutely essential to ensuring economic security for individuals and their families,” Campbell told the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development during a hearing on Sept. 19. “We know passing a strong, and smart, and effective wage bill is crucial.”

Some $1 billion in wages are stolen each year in the commonwealth by employers and contractors, and workers recoup less than 2 percent of their stolen pay, according to data from the Wage Theft Coalition led by the Massachusetts AFL-CIO. When DiDomenico first filed his bill in 2015, stolen wages totaled roughly $300 million, he told the committee.

 

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US Department of Labor Announces Final Rule to Modernize Davis-Bacon Act

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on
Agency: Wage and Hour Division
Date: August 8, 2023
Release Number: 23-145-NAT
Aided by labor, industry stakeholders’ comments, most comprehensive updates in 40 years

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the issuance of the final rule “Updating the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts Regulation” to update regulations that implement the Davis-Bacon Act and Davis-Bacon and Related Acts to reflect better the needs of construction workers on federal construction investments.

The announcement follows a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on March 18, 2022, which received comments from construction industry and labor stakeholders that helped inform the regulatory updates. The updates are the most comprehensive in decades.

The final rule provides greater clarity and enhances the DBRA regulations’ effectiveness in the modern economy. These updates strengthen and streamline the process for setting and enforcing wage rates on federally funded construction projects to make sure that federal government infrastructure investments are also investments in U.S. workers.

“Modernizing the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts is key to making sure that the jobs being created under the Biden-Harris administration’s Investing in America agenda are good jobs, and that workers get the fair wages and benefits they deserve on federally funded constructions projects across the nation,” said Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su. “This updated rule will create pathways to the middle class for more families and help level the playing field for high-road employers because companies who exploit their workers, or who don’t pay workers fairly, should never have a competitive advantage.”

The final rule’s regulatory changes improve the department’s ability to administer and enforce DBRA labor standards more effectively and efficiently. These changes include the following:

  • Creating new efficiencies in the prevailing wage update system and making sure prevailing wage rates keep up with actual wages which, over time, would mean higher wages for workers.
  • Returning to the definition of “prevailing wage” used from 1935 to 1983 to ensure prevailing wages reflect actual wages paid to workers in the local community.
  • Periodically updating prevailing wage rates to address out-of-date wage determinations.
  • Providing broader authority to adopt state or local wage determinations when certain criteria are met
  • Issuing supplemental rates for key job classifications when no survey data exists.
  • Updating the regulatory language to better reflect modern construction practices.
  • Strengthening worker protections and enforcement, including debarment and anti-retaliation provisions.

The DBRA requirements apply to an estimated tens of billions of dollars in federal and federally assisted construction spending each year and provide minimum wage rates for hundreds of thousands of U.S. construction workers. The department expects a significant increase in the numbers of industry workers due to the historic investments in federally funded construction projects made possible by legislation such as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

“In light of recent investments in our nation’s infrastructure, modernized regulations are more important than ever to ensure fair wages and benefits for the workers who build and repair our roads, bridges, federal buildings and energy infrastructure,” said Principal Deputy Wage and Hour Division Administrator Jessica Looman. “They will help set correct wage rates for workers on these federally funded construction projects that better reflect the realities of today’s labor market.”

New federal investments will support projects related to clean energy, power and water infrastructure improvements, legacy pollution remediation, and renovation to the nation’s broadband and transportation infrastructures.

The DBRA’s purpose is to ensure employers on federally funded or assisted construction projects pay locally prevailing wages to construction workers and to prevent the unintended consequence of depressing workers’ wages during the government’s construction contracting activity.

The final rule will be effective 60 days after its publication in the Federal Register. Learn more about the final rule to modernize Davis-Bacon Act regulations.

Learn more about DBRA worker protections or the Wage and Hour Division. You may also call toll-free 1-866-4US-WAGE to speak directly and confidentially to a trained Wage and Hour Division professional. The division protects workers regardless of where they are from and can communicate with workers in more than 200 languages.

NAFC SALUTES THE US DEPARTMENT OF LABOR’S ACTION TO MODERNIZE AND STRENGTHEN THE DAVIS-BACON PREVAILNG WAGE REGULATIONS

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Washington, D.C. – August 8, 2023 – The National Alliance for Fair Contracting (NAFC) issues the following statement:

Today marks a historic milestone in the long journey for workers and responsible contractors to bring a middle-class wage and a level playing field to the construction industry to benefit our families, communities and taxpayers.

The new Davis-Bacon regulations announced by the Biden-Harris Administration  will strengthen the law’s compliance and enforcement procedures which protect all workers – union and non-union alike – and prevent low-road contractors from undermining local economies and local labor standards.

The rule will support locally prevailing wages and benefits for millions of  construction workers employed on federal and federally assisted projects, including on $200 billion of projects funded under President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, CHIPS and Science Act, and Inflation Reduction Act.

Learn more about the final rule , which will be effective 60 days after its publication in the Federal Register.

Prevailing wage in New York: a comprehensive guide

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Jacob Maslow
July 30, 2023

Prevailing wage is a crucial aspect of the construction industry in New York, as it ensures that workers receive fair compensation on public works projects. In essence, the prevailing wage is the pay contractors and subcontractors in New York must pay their employees when working on public works sites. This rate is higher than the standard minimum wage, based on hourly rates paid by unions to specific workers in a given market.

The New York State Department of Labor issues prevailing wage schedules for general and residential construction projects on a county-by-county basis. General construction rates apply to buildings, heavy and highway, tunnel, and water and sewer work. Contractors and subcontractors must adhere to these wage schedules to comply with state regulations.

Key Takeaways
Prevailing wage is critical in the New York construction industry, ensuring fair pay for workers on public works projects.
The New York State Department of Labor establishes wage schedules for general and residential construction on a county-by-county basis.
Contractors and subcontractors must adhere to these prevailing wage schedules to maintain compliance with state regulations.

Understanding Prevailing Wage
Article 8

In New York State, the prevailing hourly wage and usual benefits and overtime are paid to most workers, laborers, and mechanics within a given area. New York’s prevailing wage law is regulated under Article 8, which focuses on public construction projects. Prevailing wages are usually equivalent to the union wage. They can vary by location, as they are determined based on the average wages earned by professionals in similar roles in the area.

Article 8 of the New York State Labor Law ensures that contractors and subcontractors on public works projects pay their employees the appropriate prevailing wage, as established by the Department of Labor (DOL). These requirements apply to all parties involved in a public work contract, regardless of whether they have a direct contractual relationship with the public entity.

Public Work

Public work refers to any construction, maintenance, or improvement project funded and executed by a public entity, such as federal, state, or local government. These projects typically include building and renovating schools, hospitals, transportation infrastructure, and other public facilities. Regarding prevailing wages, contractors and subcontractors must know the specific rates applicable to their work locality and trade.

The New York State Department of Labor issues prevailing wage schedules for “General Construction Projects” and “Residential Construction Projects” on a county-by-county basis. General construction rates apply to buildings, heavy and highway construction, tunnels, water, and sewer. Employers with government contracts or foreign workers must pay their employees the prevailing wages to comply with the law and ensure fair compensation for their labor.

Understanding prevailing wage laws in New York, specifically under Article 8 and public work projects, is essential for contractors, subcontractors, and employees. Compliance with these laws protects workers’ rights and helps maintain a fair and competitive labor market.

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