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DOL announces new compliance assistance tools to assist new and small businesses

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The U.S. Department of Labor has announced the launch of the New and Small Business Assistance and the Compliance Assistance Toolkits web pages.

These new online tools assist American small businesses and workers with simple, straightforward resources that provide critical Wage and Hour Division (WHD) information, as well as links to other resources.

The web pages were established in response to feedback received from new and small business stakeholders voicing their need for a centralized location to secure the tools and information they need to comply with federal labor laws. The web pages also provide relevant publications and answer the questions most frequently asked by new and small business owners. These tools, in conjunction with worker.gov and employer.gov, ensure greater understanding of federal requirements and provide tools to help employers find resources offered by other regulatory agencies.

In addition to these new resources, WHD recently made available compliance assistance videos that provide brief, plain-language explanations of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) requirements and protections. The videos provide essential information employers need to understand their obligations under the law.

In August 2018, the Office of Compliance Initiatives (OCI) launched a revamped worker.gov to provide information about workers’ rights and an all-new employer.gov to provide information about the responsibilities of job creators toward their workers.

For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the Wage and Hour Division, contact the Division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE(487-9243).

Information is also available at https://www.dol.gov/whd including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the Division.

Source: https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/whd/whd20181017

Contractors group files suit against ‘Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces’

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President Obama’s long-controversial Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces rule — set to take effect Oct. 25 — is being challenged in district court by the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), one of several contractors associations that oppose the rule as costly and burdensome.

DOLIn a suit filed Oct. 7 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, the associated builders and its Southeast Texas Chapter argued that the Labor Department rule finalized in August and intended to protect low-wage workers from abuses such as wage theft is a “blacklisting” rule that forces contractors to report “alleged violations,” thus harming their prospects for winning government work.

“The Obama administration has exceeded its authority by forcing government contractors and prospective government contractors to publicly disclose mere accusations that they have violated labor and employment laws,” said Associated Builders and Contractors Vice President of Regulatory, Labor and State Affairs Ben Brubeck. “ABC supports policies that provide value to taxpayers by ensuring that federal contractors compete on a level playing field, but this rule will require contractors to report alleged violations that have not been fully adjudicated and are being contested, which violates their first amendment and due process rights and is likely to harm fair and open competition in the federal marketplace.”

Keep reading this article at: http://www.govexec.com/contracting/2016/10/contractors-group-files-suit-against-fair-pay-and-safe-workplaces/132243

Federal contractor paid sick leave regulations finalized

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paid-sick-leave-regulations-oct-2016The Labor Department’s Wage & Hour Division (WHD) has released final regulations implementing mandatory paid sick leave for employees working on federal service, construction, and concessions contracts.

The costs are likely to come both from the paid sick leave itself (a maximum of seven days per year) and from the layers of complexity on top of contractors’ existing compliance obligations with respect to these types of contracts.

The regulations overlap with WHD’s responsibility for oversight of the Service Contract Labor Standards (commonly known as the Service Contract Act, or SCA), which is already a complicated compliance undertaking for employers.

Keep reading this article to see a summary of the highlights of the final regulations and flag issues for contractors to consider before the regulations take effect in January 2017: https://www.insidegovernmentcontracts.com/2016/10/paid-sick-leave-final-regulations-released/

DOL finds Senate food services contractors broke law

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Wage & Hour DivisionContractors hired by the Architect of the Capitol must award a total of $1 million in back pay to hundreds of cafeteria workers due to violations of the federal prevailing wage law, the Labor Department announced last Tuesday.

Restaurant Associates and its subcontractor Personnel Plus will pay 674 food servers and cooks a collective $1,008,302 because of improper job classifications that violated the McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act, Labor’s Wage and Hour Division said. The companies paid the workers for lower-skilled jobs than they actually performed, forced them to report for work early and failed to pay overtime at proper rates, according to the decision.

In addition, the contractors failed to pay required health and welfare benefits and violated the McNamara-O’Hara Act’s recordkeeping requirements.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.govexec.com/contracting/2016/07/labor-department-finds-senate-food-services-contractors-broke-law/130262

 

Labor Dept. to require paid sick leave for workers of federal contractors

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Dept. of LaborThe Department of Labor (DOL) is requiring federal contractors, subcontractors and certain parties who contract with the Federal Government to provide their employees with up to 7 days of paid sick leave annually, implementing Executive Order 13706, which was signed by President Obama on September 7, 2015.

The proposed rule applies to new contracts or contract-like instruments, if:

(i)(A)  it is a procurement contract for services or construction; (B) a contract covered by the Service Contract Act; (C)  a contract for concessions; and (D) a contract entered into with the Federal government in connection with Federal property or lands related to offering services for Federal employees, their dependents, or the general public; and

(ii) the wages of employees under such contract are governed by the Davis-Bacon Act, the Service Contract Act, or the  Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), including employees who qualify for an exemption from the FLSA.

DOL estimates that the proposed rule will cost each small business $150-$650 for the first year in implementation costs and payroll costs.

Comments are due to the DOL by March 28, 2016.     

 

Rules proposed to implement Executive Order on minimum wage in federal contracts

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An Executive Order, signed by President Obama in February, directed the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to develop guidelines to increase the minimum wage for federal contractors.   On June 12, the DOL, in conjunction with the White House, released its proposed rule that raises the minimum wage for workers on federal service and construction contracts to $10.10 per hour.

The 181-page proposed rule (found here as published in the Federal Register) would increase wages for nearly 200,000 workers, according to an economic analysis included in the proposal.

The Executive Order applies to new and renegotiated federal contracts starting January 1, 2015.

The proposed rule would apply to all construction contracts covered by the Davis-Bacon Act; service contracts covered by the Service Contract Act; concessions contracts, such as contracts to furnish food and lodging on federal property; and contracts to provide services, such as child care or dry cleaning, in federal buildings.  Tipped employees of government contractors and their subcontractors would also receive a raise under the proposed rule.

The DOL’s Wage and Hour Division will be responsible for enforcing the proposed rule. The proposed rule contains a mechanism for investigations and informal complaint resolution as well as remedies for violations, including the payment of back wages and debarment as well as an anti-retaliation provision to protect whistle blowers or complainants.

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