On June 24, 2024, a federal district court judge enjoined parts of the United States Department of Labor’s (US DOL's) August 23, 2023 prevailing wage rule that greatly expanded the definition of “construction” on federal...more
7/11/2024
/ Chevron Deference ,
Commercial Truck Drivers ,
Construction Industry ,
Construction Project ,
Construction Workers ,
Davis-Bacon Act ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Prevailing Wages ,
SCOTUS ,
Supply Chain ,
Transportation Industry ,
Wage and Hour
On August 29, 2023, Clock on Grassthe U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released more guidance and proposed rules on key provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that requires...more
10/25/2023
/ Apprenticeships ,
Construction Contracts ,
Construction Project ,
Davis-Bacon Act ,
Green Energy ,
Investors ,
IRS ,
Prevailing Wages ,
Project Labor Agreements ,
Proposed Rules ,
Renewable Energy ,
Tax Credits ,
Tax Incentives ,
U.S. Treasury
On June 9, 2023, Governor Pritzker signed into law HB 3491 which amends the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act (IPWA) to provide workers with the following rights against general contractors and sub-contractors:...more
On July 28, 2023, Governor Pritzker signed into law a number of amendments to Illinois’ Prevailing Wage Act (IPWA), including HB 3370, which amends the IPWA to include “power washing.” Specifically, the term “public works”...more
Hold onto your hard hat! What you thought you knew about federal Davis-Bacon prevailing wage law is changing --- substantially changing decades of well-established rules, precedent and interpretations as to the applicability...more
9/20/2023
/ Bureau of Labor Statistics ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Construction Industry ,
Construction Project ,
Construction Workers ,
Davis-Bacon Act ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Funding ,
Fringe Benefits ,
Green Energy ,
Prevailing Wages ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
On July 28, 2023, Governor Pritzker signed into law a number of amendments to the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act (IPWA), including HB 3792, which amends the IPWA to include, among other things, all work related to fixtures or...more
On June 30, 2023, Governor Pritzker signed HB 3351 into law, which amends the Illinois Power Agency Act (IPAA) to require certain projects under the Illinois Solar For All Program to be subject to the prevailing wage...more
Yep. You read that right. Not really sure how else to describe this little nugget. As Illinois continues to do all it can to help labor organizations, the latest assist is a real stomach turner.
HB2845 amends the IL...more
Legislation aimed at expanding green energy construction projects is spreading throughout the United States. With it, prevailing wage mandates and project labor agreements tied to such projects are becoming more common....more
Court decisions dealing with and interpreting the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act do not occur with great regularity. So when an interesting decision comes down, we feel it is worth reporting on and should be noted by those...more
If you have frequented the SmithAmundsen Labor & Employment Blog, you may recall that we previously reported on one of the very first actions taken by Governor Pritzker immediately following his inauguration in January 2019....more
Contractors beware – the Illinois Department of Labor (IDOL) has ramped up audits of contractors as labor unions and related organizations flood the IDOL with “complaints. Remember, under the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act...more
5/7/2021
/ Audits ,
Compliance ,
Contractors ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Illinois ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Non-Union ,
Prevailing Wages ,
Public Works ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
State and Local Government
Big Labor continues to use local, state and federal prevailing wage laws to target contractors they have a “beef” with. Since most prevailing wage audits are triggered by a complaint (including 3rd party complaints), trade...more
Contractors, developers, architects, owners, project managers and even public bodies often ask the same obvious question when dealing with any type of prevailing wage ordinance or law, “what are my obligations?” While...more
Back in early 2019, one of the very first actions taken by the new administration in Illinois was to amend the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act (IPWA). While many changes took effect in 2019, one material change was set to become...more
On August 13, 2019, Illinois Comptroller, Susana Mendoza, signed an Executive Order (EO) aimed at enforcement of the state’s prevailing wage law (aka mandatory top line union wage/benefits scale) for “construction” projects...more
Organized labor wasted no time in securing Governor Pritzker’s signature on legislation that undoubtedly calls for the Illinois prevailing wage rate to fall in lock step with the area union contracts. ...more
Having handled countless prevailing wage disputes, the local, state or federal administrative agency assigned to administer compliance (i.e. the US Department of Labor) is the only government entity that can lawfully...more
You may not remember… in 2013, then Governor Quinn signed into law an amendment to Illinois’ Prevailing Wage Act (IPWA) which sort of redefined what the PREVAILING WAGE RATE meant by adding one little word. Effective January...more