This Tuesday New York’s Construction Industry Fair Play Act, aimed at combatting worker misclassification, went into effect. A press release issued by the New York State Department of Labor stated:“Studies show that in any given year, employers misclassify from 15 to 25 percent of construction workers in New York State as independent contractors. Employee misclassification happens when an employer labels workers wrongly as independent contractors or pays them completely off the books and thus denies them benefits and protections under State and Federal law.
October 28, 2010
Construction Citizen attended a press conference at the Gables Park Plaza in Austin, Texas last week. The press conference was called by the Workers Defense Project to announce that they had assisted three workers who claimed that their employer, Capoera Construction, and Greater Metroplex Interiors (GMI), the contractor who hired Capoera Construction, owed them back wages and overtime for work that they performed on this and another project. The men say that they often worked up to 70 hours and six days per week without receiving overtime pay and that they were not even paid at all for their work toward the end of the projects.
October 25, 2010
Around the country there are a number of irresponsible owners and contractors who are being found out for the fact that they are using cash workers who should be paid as employees. Some of these cash workers have false social security cards or other false identification, many are without safety training, and many have no crafts skills.Some workers who have been cheated out of wages and overtime for which they were legally due are now filing wage theft lawsuits. However, some workers are undocumented and they cannot protest for fear that the contractor will inform on them and ICE will pay a visit to their home to remove them or members of their families
October 20, 2010
Last Wednesday, Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell signed the Construction Workplace Misclassification Act, which adds Pennsylvania to the growing list of states passing legislation designed to eliminate the practice of worker misclassification by imposing criminal penalties upon employers who intentionally label their employees as independent contractors. Like laws passed in other states, the new act spells out the criteria for classifying a worker as an independent contractor. The act states that a person in the construction industry may only be paid as an independent contractor if that person has a written contract for service, is “free from control or direction” as to how to perform the service, and if that person normally performs the service as an independent business. The new law makes it a criminal offense to misclassify workers, but also takes it a step further.
October 19, 2010
This week, nwiTimes.com (Northwest Indiana) wrote about a 2008 University of Missouri-Kansas City study which revealed the extent of worker misclassification and the resulting cost to state and local governments. As in other states, the problem is noted to be widespread, especially in the Indiana construction industry. Misclassified workers who don’t report all of their income and who go without unemployment and worker compensation insurance represent lost tax revenue for the state in an economy where all departments are struggling to reduce their budgets. Ironically, employers who misclassify their workers are often rewarded with government jobs because by breaking the rules they are able to submit lower bids for construction projects. This is precisely why State Representative David Niezgodski is looking to strengthen Indiana laws to crack down on those employers who do not play by the rules.
October 14, 2010
The Vdara Hotel and Spa at CityCenter in Las Vegas, Nevada is one of the newest hotels on that city’s famous Strip. This beautiful and modern all-suite hotel is LEED Gold certified and offers the latest technology such as in-room media hubs, beautiful views, an impressive fine art collection and a relaxing atmosphere. Recently, however, its spectacular pool area and distinctive crescent shaped façade have been drawing the most attention.It seems that the south facing curve of the building acts to converge sunlight and focus it onto an area where the temperature then rises significantly as compared to other areas in the sunlight, in the same way that a magnifying glass can concentrate sunlight to create more heat on a surface. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the poolside “hot spot” has singed hair and melted plastic cups and bags, scoring it the term “Vdara Death Ray” from hotel employees and guests. Evident for a few hours each sunny day, the spot moves across the pool area as the sun advances across the sky. Therein lies the problem.
September 28, 2010
According to an article in the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman (Wasilla, Alaska), a man who hired illegal workers and paid them in cash for at least three years has now been sentenced to one year in prison followed by three years probation, and has been told to pay $336,753 following an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service.Esteban Lane Stubbs hired undocumented immigrants for his drywall business in the Anchorage Alaska area, paying them in cash to avoid having to pay them fair wages and benefits. While Alaska does not yet have any laws which address wage theft and employee misclassification, Stubbs was convicted of “structuring a financial transaction” because of his attempt to hide the way he paid his employees. Knowing that a bank is required to report cash withdrawals over $10,000 to the IRS, Stubbs routinely withdrew smaller amounts on consecutive days from different branches of First National Bank Alaska.The article quotes a press release from the US Attorney’s Office in Alaska as saying:“These low wages and the absence of costs for income taxes, employment taxes, workers compensation, unemployment insurance and other benefits paid by legitimate employers allowed Stubbs to underbid fellow contractors...
September 27, 2010
The current ongoing cardiac expansion to the Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, Ohio is nearing completion, and marks a great success for the emerging field of prefabricated corporate construction. “Prefab” construction is nothing new. L. Manning built houses in London that were assembled in Australia during the early 1800’s, and during the 20th century, many houses were built in factories to replace those bombed in London during World War II. But never before has it been implemented on this scale, with such overwhelmingly superior results: every one of the 178 patient rooms of the 12-story, 440,000 square foot project was built off-site, and was built more quickly, inexpensively and safely than could have been accomplished through traditional methods.
September 24, 2010
New Hampshire Governor John H. Lynch signed Executive Order 2010-3 on Friday which directs departments and agencies who deal with employee misclassification to work together, and...
September 07, 2010
Yesterday the NY governor’s office announced that Governor David A. Paterson has acted on 92 bills, signing 66 into law including the Construction Industry Fair Play Act, which...
September 01, 2010
