Cheryl M. Stanton has assumed the office of the Wage and Hour Administrator and is now in charge of the Wage and Hour Division of the US Department of Labor.
Read MoreOn June 13, 2019 WDOL.gov is finally supposed to be moving to SAM.gov and you should be able to find your official wage determinations there for Davis-Bacon Act and Service Contract Act procurements.
Read MoreThe Contract Work Safety Standards Act (“CWHSSA”) is a federal government contractor wage law that regulates overtime. It now provides for liquidated damages in excess of $25 a day for every day an employer violates the Act.
Read MoreDOL just posted two new FLSA opinion letters and a FMLA opinion letter. It also just announced its opinion letter database is searcheable. Watch out Westlaw!
Read MoreIn some disputes under the Service Contract Act (“SCA”), the contractor has to take his claims first to the US Department of Labor (“DOL”). In other circumstances, a final determination by the DOL is not required to bring a direct claim for reimbursement against the Government.
Read MoreContrary to the usual assumptions that DOL is going to look back at least two years, sometimes it is perfectly appropriate for DOL to forgo back wages and just seek prospective corrective action.
Read MoreThe announcement of three new appointments to the DOL Administrative Review Board (“ARB”), each for a two year term, is a modest step forward. Now the ARB has a quorum and can get to work. The three new members are William Thomas Barto, James A. Haynes, and Daniel T. Gresh.
Read MoreEmployees who are highly compensated at the rate of $100,000 a year just need to have one exempt duty so long as the worker’s primary duty is the performance of office or nonmanual activities. This makes for a much more relaxed test of exempt status from minimum wage, overtime and prevailing wage requirements.
Read MoreWhen a covered service employee is given leave with or without pay for absences for sickness or injury, “there would not be a break in service” under the SCA rules, and the employee would be entitled to newly accrued but unused vacation benefits immediately upon his return to work.
Read MoreThe SCA is uncertain with respect to how to compensated a service worker who is just temporarily posted to a different locale than their home base. It has been said that contractors only have to ask for new WDs for the missing site, or pay the rate specified for a different site, if the temporarily assigned worker is going to be there for 2 months or more. Periods of time of less than 1 or perhaps 2 months are considered to be temporary postings and may not always trigger a new WD wage rate.
Read MoreWhile some specific additive payroll taxes are picked up and adjusted under the Service Contract Act Price Adjustment clause, the situation with state or local Gross Receipts Taxes (“GRT”), assessed as a percentage on government service contract revenue, is fraught with uncertainties. Contractors who failed to price these costs into their proposal up front have been left holding the bag.
Read MoreThe principles which determine whether or not time spent in travel is working time will depend on the kind of travel involved and the particular circumstances .
Read MoreUnlike the Copeland Anti-Kickback Act, which covers most US Government construction projects, the Service Contract Act does not dictate the weekly payment of wages. So while Davis-Bacon Act covered construction workers' wages must be paid weekly, other federal laws like the SCA do not necessarily require such frequency of payment.
Read MoreAfter final arbitral award, a cost reimbursement contractor should have an opportunity to argue at the Board for the recovery the overtime backpay and other costs from the Federal government. There is no U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) procedures it has to exhaust first.
Read MoreSometimes federal contractors are working on goverment installations and find themselves being sued under state or local wage and hour laws. In exceptional crcumstances, these state causes of action may be barred by the federal enclave doctrine, which makes federal law supreme over certain government properties where the state has receded from jurisdiction.
Read MoreGovernment service contractors working at federal facilities that have closed down for a day of mourning should review their contracts and wage determination(s) carefully and make sure they don’t cover events, like Presidential funeral closures, and if they do, follow them to get reimbursed, if possible for the cost of the day off.
Read MoreLook for President Trump to triangulate and try to reach compromises with the new House Democratic majority on the FLSA minimum wage and infrastructure bills. This means a moderate minimum wage increase, increased Davis-Bacon Act activity, and perhaps even a a push for family leave are coming into focus in the next Congress.
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Gilbert J. Ginsburg, a giant of the government contracts/wage and hour world passed away Oct. 26, 2018. This is my personal remembrance of the impact of Gil on my life.
Read MoreThe better strategy is re-evaluating the terms of your SCA CBAs to look for items arguably not covered by the SCA — like premium overtime, call-in/reporting pay, call-back pay or expense reimbursement (such as per diems, and other compensation not for hours worked) — and renegotiate the CBA to remove them and add items that are subject to a price adjustment from the Government.
Read MoreBy changing the FLSA exemption interpretive rule from a “narrow construction” to a “fair reading” standard, the Supreme Court makes it all the more likely that employers have a better chance of prevailing in any exemption disputes.
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