Under pressure to clamp down on prevailing wage violations, state regulators are proposing more oversight of private contractors on public works projects.
The state Department of Industrial Relations has issued a draft regulation that would require public agencies to monitor more closely the payroll records and working conditions at public works sites. A hearing on the proposed regulation is set for Wednesday in Sacramento.
The proposal was written late last year after a stream of complaints from program administrators, labor interests and private contractors about the cost and inefficiency of enforcing prevailing wage law. Private companies must pay prevailing wage, which is more than minimum wage, when working on any type of public project.
The department is proposing more frequent job site visits and interviewing requirements for labor compliance officers at public agencies. Besides checking contractor payrolls, these labor compliance officers would be looking for required posted notices and checking that “the work being performed matches what the contractor is reporting.”
The proposed regulation actually is being welcomed by contractors who say the state initiative should make the enforcement of labor laws by local agencies more consistent. In some cases, contractors have complained they have been fined for practices in one jurisdiction that passed muster in another.
“We applaud the broad effort here,” said Tom Holsman, chief executive of Associated General Contractors of California, which represents union and non-union contractors. “The labor compliance programs that have been put in place by various agencies are not consistent with each other and there has been too little of a check by the state on the actions taken by labor compliance officials. Our members have suffered tremendous losses due to the uneven application of penalties and fines.”
Another provision of the proposed regulation would require more immediate notice to contractors that they have been found to be in violation of wage laws. With this notification, contractors then would be given more ability to resolve the violations quickly, possibly before significant penalties are assessed.
For more information, log onto the Department of Industrial Relations Web site at www.dir.ca.gov and scroll down to “Amendments to Labor Compliance Program Regulations.”
Social Security Numbers
In an effort to guard against identity theft, a law kicks in this month that restricts employers from using employees’ social security numbers.
Besides the obvious prohibition from posting or displaying an employee’s social security number in public, employers also are banned from printing the number on any card required to access products or services, such as a healthcare drug prescription card.
The law also prohibits employers from requiring an employee to use his or her social security number to access a restricted Web site, unless another identification number is also required.
Finally, employers cannot print an employee’s social security number on any materials mailed to that individual, unless state or federal law requires the number such as a listing, as in tax form pamphlets.
Similar restrictions on the use of social security numbers also went into effect in several other states, including New York, Minnesota and Oregon.
Smog Check Regs
The clampdown on diesel emissions continues to broaden. This year, the headlines will be dominated by the state Air Resources Board’s attempt to regulate diesel emissions from on-road vehicles. An off-road vehicle regulation,aimed primarily at construction and farm equipment,passed last year.
On a related track, the state Bureau of Automotive Repairs is starting to develop smog check regulations for 800,000 lightweight diesel vehicles, which weigh 10,000 to 14,000 pounds. This is part of a new state law authored by Assemblyman Tony Mendoza, D-Los Angeles, and signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last fall. The bureau has two years to develop the regulations.
This new smog check program would target personal consumer diesel vehicles as well as business-related vehicles and fleets.
The new law actually might make it easier for businesses to purchase and operate lightweight diesel vehicles, said Luis Patino, a spokesman for Mendoza, because the smog-check program would allow vehicles not currently authorized for sale in California to be offered for sale as long as they passed the smog checks.
High Mileage
With the new year comes an increase in the federal mileage reimbursement guidelines.
This year, for the first time, the federal mileage reimbursement guideline tops 50 cents per mile as higher gas, vehicle insurance and vehicle maintenance prices are accounted for. The new rate published by the Internal Revenue Service is 50.5 cents per mile, up from 2007’s 48.5 cents.
The increase is the result of an annual study of vehicle operation and maintenance costs conducted by Runzheimer International for the IRS.
While the standard was initially set for tax filers who claimed tax deductions for operating a vehicle for business purposes, it has also become the de facto standard for employers who choose to reimburse their employees for vehicle miles traveled while on company business. It is an optional standard.
Fine is a staff reporter for the Los Angeles Business Journal.
