Laws and Labor Relations

Laws and Regulations

• 4 major categories of laws– Contract Law– Laws governing the execution of work being

performed – permits, ordinances, regulations, requirements of jurisdictional agencies

– Laws that relate to settling differences– Licensing laws that govern personal

qualification standards

Public v Private Contracts

• Majority of public contracts must conform to general laws governing execution of public contracts

• Usually spelled out in contract documents

Public v Private Contracts

• Significant differences between Public and Private Contracts– Project must be publicly advertised– Bids must be accompanied by a bid bond– Notice Inviting Bids usually contains the list of

prevailing wage rate for all crafts to be used in work, may include federal wage rates

– A list of all subcontractors working must be listed and filed with GC bid

Public v Private Contracts

– Wherever a brand name product is specified the specifications must give the names of the brand name products plus the words “or equal”

– A performance bond and a payment bond must be provided

– Award must be to lowest responsible bidder

Limitations of Authority of a Public Agency

• A public agency cannot enter into an act it is not authorized to perform

• IT can only do what the law allows or prescribes example NYSTA

Traffic Requirements during construction

• Need for flaggers, temporary signals, closing lanes

• Need a permit from governing body of the roadway (town, county, state, NYSTA)

• Engineer provides a traffic maintenance and safety plan which is reviewed and approved– Provides details on when plan will be in effect

Work Within or adjacent to Navigable Waterways

• More permits– US Army Corp of Engineers– State and Federal Coastal Regulations– Lengthy permit process

• Interruption of Navigation

• How do inspectors get to site

Fair Subcontracting laws

– Laws to protect subs from bid shopping by GCs• Bid shopping resulted in poor quality work and

materials• make sure Law says that all subs that the bidder

intends to use on project whose cost exceeds a certain % of the total project cost must be listed on bid

• If GC fails to list a sub for any portion of the work the GC must do work itself

• PM must check ID of all subs to GC is in compliance

Hazardous Waste

• Resource Conservation and Recovery Act– Passed in 1976– Controls management of hazardous waste– Major provisions under RCRA

• Definition of hazardous waste

• System to track hazardous waste from generation to disposal

• Standards for generators and transporters

• Permit requirements for facilities that treat, store, dispose of hazardous waste

• Requirements for state hazardous waste programs

Hazardous waste

• Sensitive construction issue– What happens when you find some?

• California is only state with guidelines• EPA controls other states• Generally stop work until a determination of hazardous

material is made

• Owner of site “owns” hazardous waste– Responsible for cleanup – Needs to track down other owners for $$– Modern Press – lead in NJ

Federal Labor Laws• Labor – Management Relations Laws

• 1890 Sherman Anti-trust Act– Gave labor power

• Norris-LaGuardia Act 1932 (Anti-Injunction Act)• National Labor Relations Act of 1935 (Wagner Act)• Labor Management Relations Act of 1947 (Taft –

Hartley Act)• Labor –Management Reporting and Disclosure Act

of 1959 (Landrum – Griffin Act)• Clearly outlines federal labor policy

• Equal Employment Opportunity– Eliminates discrimination in employment– Civil Rights Act of 1964

• Congress confirmed and established certain basic individual rights with regard to voting, public accommodations, public facilities, public education, participation in federally assisted programs, opportunity for employment

• Handled by Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

• Cannot refuse to hire or fire an employee based on race , color, religion, sex, or national origin

• Executive Order 11246 (1965)– Applies to contracts and subcontracts over

$10,000 on federally funded projects• Contractors must take positive action to see that

applicants are employed and that employees are treated without discrimination during their employment

• Any contractor who fails to perform is barred from future federal contracts

• Age Discrimination in Employment Act – 1967 – Protects people 40 – 65 from being fired– 25 or more employees

• Americans with Disabilities Act – 1990– Firms with 15 + employees– Cannot discriminate against a qualified

individual

Wage and Hour Laws

• Davis – Bacon Act (1931) – Determines the minimum wage and fringe benefits

that a person must be paid on a federally assisted job– Applies to all projects over $2000– Federal minimum wage rates published every Friday

in the Federal Register

• Copeland Act (1934)– Anti-kickback law– In effect wherever Davis - Bacon is in effect

• Fair Labor Standards Act (1938)– Wage and Hour Law– Governs :

• Minimum wage• Maximum hours• Overtime pay• Equal pay• Child labor standards

– Employers who violate law are liable for 2x unpaid wages and overtime costs + legal fees

• Equal Pay Act (1963)– Amended Fair Labor Standard Act– Cannot pay one sex more than the other for equal

work– Minimum age = 16

• Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act (1962)– Says workers must be paid at least 1x the basic rate

for hours over 8 per day or 40 per week

• States also have wage rate laws– State rates are used on jobs in state using

state $– If project uses both federal and state $ then

higher rate applies

• National Apprenticeship Act ( 1937)– Promote cooperation between management

and labor in developing apprenticeship programs

– 1971 Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training approved national apprenticeship standards

– Open shops could now have apprentices

• Ethnic Minorities and Women in Construction– Public Works Employment Act (1977)– $4B in subsides for construction projects

• But had to be at least 10% minority companies, subs, subcraftman, suppliers

– Minority Business Enterprise (MBE)• Woman or minority owned• Sprang up as a result of Act• Many woman owned businesses today

• Labor Relations– RPR is not involved in labor-management

problems on construction site

• Collective Bargaining in Labor relations– Under National Labor Relations Act both

management and Labor must bargain in good faith

– Usually Associations of GC will negotiate with Unions

• Master Labor agreements result