In July 2019, the New Jersey Legislature amended and expanded the State’s wage-hour laws to give the enforcing agency the power to stop an errant contractor, especially those doing prevailing wage work, from actually doing any more work until the violations are remedied. In its first exercise of this awesome authority, the agency has directed
On Davis-Bacon/Prevailing Wage Projects, Be Aware of “Split Classification” Issues and Problems
On prevailing wage projects, employees are paid for the different trade work they do by the rate for that trade. Sometimes, employees work in more than one classification (e.g. Carpenter and Laborer). These lines of demarcations are tricky sometimes, especially in situations where work in one trade might follow closely on the work of another.
New Jersey Business Association Challenges Union Boondoggle Requirement of Mandatory Apprenticeship Program For Construction Employers
I do a great deal of prevailing wage defense on behalf of employers, both on a federal level (i.e. Davis-Bacon Act) and the State of New Jersey prevailing wage statute. It sometimes seems that trade unions are able to aggressively lobby the NJDOL to take administrative actions that militate against non-union employers or make it
Prevailing Wage Class Action Dismissed for Failure to Allege “Public Work” Was Involved
The area of prevailing wage law, construction wage-hour law, is a niche within a niche and a very complicated area of wage hour law. I am proud to say I have defended more than one hundred employers in these cases, both the federal Davis Bacon Act and a number of state prevailing wage, but there
Decertification of a Class and Rejection of Another Class in the Same Case: The Daily Double!
This is an interesting case because it combines the elements of necessary, but not proven, commonality of situation for class certification and a quirky element of overtime calculation based on a unique FLSA provision. The bottom line is that the two workers who sought a class action on both the federal and state levels lost
Prevailing Wage Law Case Shows Intricacies Of Such Laws: The Apprentice Issue
The world of prevailing wage law is a complex and nuanced one. It is, in truth, a niche within a niche of the wage-hour world. I have handled almost one hundred prevailing wage audits and lawsuits and still am learning things about how these laws are interpreted. In an interesting twist, the New York State