The Executioner’s Axim – Administrative Cost Reimbursement in Service Contract Fringe Benefit Plans Is Under Attack

The saga of administrative fees paid to third party administrators (“TPA”) by prevailing wage fringe benefit plans took an ugly turn with claims by the Department of Labor that a small TPA called AXIM has breached its fiduciary duties. AXIM was administering a benefit plan organized to satisfy the health and welfare (“H&W”) requirements of the Service Contract Act (“SCA”).

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Daniel Abrahams
Back Up the Truck – Mandatory Project Labor Agreements For Federal Construction Projects Are Here!

New rules are now issued and Project Labor Agreements (“PLAs”), which are pre-hire collective bargaining agreements with one or more labor organizations that establishes the terms and conditions of employment will be mostly mandatory for federal government construction projects of $35M or more.

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Government Proposes New Rules Regarding Compensation History and Salary Transparency

A newly proposed policy and related rules would require federal contractors to disclose the compensation and benefits they intend to furnish to job applicants. Contractors also would be prohibited from seeking or using an applicant’s salary history as part of its hiring decision. If adopted, the proposal would apply to almost all federal contractors.

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DOL Finalizes New Independent Contractor Rule: But, Really, it’s Just the Same Old Smell Test

The Department of Labor (“DOL”) has finalized its long-awaited “new” rule that really just restores the decades-old approach to assessing whether a worker is an employee covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act or if they’re a mere independent contractor. Truly this is little more than the same old smell test that employers have lived with for ages.

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The Nondisplacement Rule is Officially on the Books—Again.

Last week, the Department of Labor published a Final Rule implementing the latest iteration of the “nondisplacement rule.” The rule (which has come and gone depending on who’s in the White House) is intended to protect federal contract service employees at risk of losing their jobs when the contract they’re working on expires. This gives them a right of first refusal to accept jobs that must be offered to them by a successor contractor.

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Howard Wolf-Rodda
Davis-Bacon: When Will Federal Contracts Catch Up with DOL's New "Operation of Law" Rule

Last week my distinguished colleague wrote about the new Davis Bacon “operation of law” rule that requires the use of a new DOL-issued contract clause. But what’s happening now? Is there a currently valid contract clause that federal Contracting Officers can modify into a contract? For now, the answer appears to be no.

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Application of the Davis-Bacon Act By “Operation of Law” Is Here

New Davis-Bacon Act (“DBA”) regulations went into effect at the end of October 2023. Among other things, they purport to make the DBA clauses and wage determinations apply by operation of law. But they also provide for price adjustments for contractors. Exactly how it plays out is yet to be determined, but it might be prudent for the contractor to take any omitted clauses or wage determination problem slowly, and not just jump ahead into supposed compliance only to find out they have a fight to get a price adjustment.

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