Risk Prevention Strategies: Avoiding Costly FLSA Missteps
What Should I Do If My Employer Failed to Pay Me Wages?
The Michigan Builders Trust Fund Act (MBTFA), MCL 570.151 et seq. was signed into law in the early years of the Great Depression to protect people from fraud and misappropriation of funds in the construction industry. During...more
I do a lot of prevailing wage defense and am always interested in developments in this nuanced area of wage-hour law. I have noticed a trend lately that States (e.g. New York have been legislating into effect laws that...more
On June 10, 2022, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed House Bill 5412 and its trailer bill, House Bill 4600, into law. Both bills amend the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act (WPCA) to make certain primary contractors...more
New York Governor Kathy Hochul recently signed into law Senate Bill S2766-C, which amends the New York Labor Law (NYLL) and General Business Law (GBL) in relation to actions for non-payment of wages, and importantly, creates...more
On Labor Day, Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law an amendment to New York Labor Law that holds prime and general construction contractors jointly and severally liable for unpaid wages, benefits, and wage supplements owed...more
New York appears poised to enact a modified version of legislation that would create potential liability for general contractors when their subcontractors fail to properly pay their employees. As noted in our prior...more
While general or prime contractors have always faced the risk of liability for the actions or inactions of their subcontractors, an increase risk of state statutory liability for certain actions and inactions of...more
Last month, Virginia’s General Assembly enacted a new law that makes contractors on large construction projects liable for unpaid wages owed to their subcontractors’ employees. Senate Bill 838, codified at Virginia Code §...more
A general contractor in Southern California found itself on the hook for its subcontractor’s failure to pay wages to its workers, even though the general contractor had no knowledge of it. The case illustrates an important...more
The big legislative news in Illinois this spring concerned the passage of a law permitting marijuana for recreational use, beginning January 1, 2020. This development overshadowed other news affecting the construction...more
A bill pending in the Illinois legislature (HB2838) exemplifies a nationwide trend in the construction industry to hold a contractor who has a direct contract with an owner (“Direct Contractor”) liable for the unpaid wage and...more
GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING - The Small Business Administration (SBA) announced a series of workshops geared to help Native American small business communities with technical assistance and business development. The SBA will...more
A new Maryland law – Md. Code, Lab & Empl., § 3-507.2 (the “Maryland Wage Payment and Collection Law”) – makes general contractors on public and private projects in Maryland liable for unpaid subcontractor employee wages,...more
During a construction project, circumstances may arise that lead a general contractor to consider termination of a subcontractor’s right to proceed under the subcontract. The Randy Kinder Excavating v. J.A. Manning...more
On October 1, 2018, Maryland Senate Bill 853, also known as Maryland’s General Contractor Liability for Unpaid Wages Act, went into effect, expanding the liability of a general contractor on a construction project under the...more
The Ninth Circuit recently held that ERISA does not preempt a Nevada state law that curtailed the ability of multiemployer plans to recover unpaid employer contributions. Under Nevada law SB 223, general contractors can be...more
In February 2018, the Oregon Legislature attempted to push through House Bill 4154, which would have made a general contractor liable for unpaid wages, including benefit payments and contributions, of an employee of a...more
It’s been said that as California goes, so goes the nation. If so, general contractors throughout the country may soon be taking on more responsibility for the unpaid wages of the workers on their construction projects than...more
Many of you read with interest our recent article discussing Maryland's new law, the General Contractor Liability for Unpaid Wages Act. As we outlined in the article, that law makes a construction general contractor jointly...more
This year California ushered in a new law effective January 1, 2018 for private works construction contracts, California’s Labor Code section 218.7. The law applies to all direct contractors who make or take the contract in...more
A bill proposed in the Oregon House of Representatives threatens to fundamentally alter the relationships between contractors, their subcontractors, and their subcontractors’ employees. Under the bill, a contractor on a...more
As of January 1, 2018, direct contractors in California who make or take a contract “for the erection, construction, alteration, or repair of a building, structure, or other private work” are jointly and severally liable with...more
Commencing on January 1, 2018, California has enforced and made effective AB 1701 (Labor Code § 218.7). In accordance with this new law, "direct contractors" on private works of improvements will now be directly liable for...more
With the New Year come new laws that affect California employers. The following is the “A to Z” of changes in the law that may affect your business in 2018. Effective January 1, 2018, California’s Fair Pay Act will extend...more
On September 13, 2017 the California Legislature passed Assembly Bill No. 1701, which requires the General Contractor of a private construction project to pay all unpaid wages and fringe benefits owed to an employee of a...more