Labor Law Archives

A new California law requires prime contractors on private construction projects to be financially responsible for any wages, fringe benefits and union contributions left unpaid by subcontractors and their sub-subcontractors. The prime contractor’s financial responsibility under this new law, however, does not extend to any penalties or liquidated damages resulting from a subcontractor’s failure to pay wages. This law governs all private construction contracts entered into beginning January 1, 2018. As a result of this new law, prime contractors on California private construction projects will need to closely monitor their subcontractors’ payroll practices and require the submission of payroll documentation similar to that required under the Davis-Bacon Act. The new law allows prime contractors to withhold payment from any subcontractor that does not provide the required payroll records. Could we see passage of a similar law in Pennsylvania and New Jersey – two states having strong construction labor unions?

A new Philadelphia ordinance, effective July 1, 2016, will have a significant effect on employers who fail to pay wages to their employees for work performed in Philadelphia. Titled Wage Theft Complaints, the ordinance provides for administrative and court remedies, and penalties for “wage theft”, defined by the ordinance as any violation of the Pennsylvania Wage, Payment and Collection Law, Minimum Wage Act, or any other federal or state law regulating the payment of wages, for work performed in Philadelphia.

The Pennsylvania Senate has passed House Bill 874 by a vote of 30-18. The version agreed upon by the Senate will now go back to the Pennsylvania House for a concurrence vote and then on to Governor Wolf to sign. Because the legislation passed through the Senate in substantially the same form as it left the House, there appears little chance the legislation will be hung up again before it hits Governor Wolf’s desk.

Open shop developers and contractors alike will soon have a new rule to contend with when they work in Philadelphia. The new ordinance mandating paid sick leave for companies with 10 or more employees will go into effect on June 13, 2015. Employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement or working as independent contractors are exempt from the new law.

New legislation aimed at eliminating the role of government in collecting union dues and PAC contributions from public sector employee’s unions is under consideration in the Pennsylvania legislature. Although the parameters of any pending legislation are not yet entirely clear, it is undeniable that discussions are under way in both the House and the Senate to consider making changes to this area of the law.

Since the height of the recession, the construction industry workforce has been reduced by approximately 30%. The Construction Labor Market Analyzers’ 20/20 Foresight Report now projects a shortage of nearly 2 million skilled craft workers by 2017. An aging workforce, a plummeting pipeline of new workers, and an ever rising demand for personnel are seen as the causes.

An emergency interim final rule issued by the US Department of Homeland Security and the US Department of Labor in April of this year has gone into effect. Under the new application, the 2008 methodology using a 4-tier wage system in determining wages for non-agricultural H2B workers is being replaced with the average wage from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Statistic Survey. The new rule permits employers to use wages calculated under the Davis-Bacon Act, but does not require that Davis-Bacon wage scales be used unless the H2B workers are working on federal construction projects. The rule also maintains the previously existing carve out that requires signatories to union collective bargaining agreements to pay the wage rates stipulated in those collective bargaining agreements.

The DC Circuit Court of Appeals held in January that President Obama’s 2010 recess appointment of Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board was unconstitutional. In so doing, the Court concluded that valid recess appointments can only occur in intersession breaks of the Senate.

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled in favor of a local business, Lehigh Valley Racket and Fitness Centers, and struck down a National Labor Relations Board rule requiring the posting of union organization posters at its workplace.  The decision comes on the heels of a prior ruling by the D.C. Circuit declaring President Obama’s “recess” appointments to the National Labor Relations Board unconstitutional and marks another setback for the NLRB.

As the legislative session in Pennsylvania gets underway in earnest, the making of laws starts anew. Among those under consideration may be several pieces of legislation that were under consideration last year but never made it to the floor for a vote. An act designed to make revisions to the apprenticeship structure in the state was one such bill.