GSBE Weekly Update 09/13/2017
AB 1701 Labor-related liabilities: original contractor– Sent to Assembly
Under existing law, an action may be brought for nonpayment of wages, fringe benefits, or health and welfare or pension fund contributions. This bill would, for all contracts entered into on or after January 1, 2018, require a direct contractor, as defined, making or taking a contract in the state for the erection, construction, alteration, or repair of a building, structure, or other work, to assume, and be liable for, specified debt owed to a wage claimant that is incurred by a subcontractor, at any tier, acting under, by, or for the direct contractor for the wage claimant’s performance of labor included in the subject of the original contract. The bill would authorize the Labor Commissioner to bring an action under specified statutes or in a civil action to enforce this liability, as provided. It would also authorize a third party owed fringe or other benefits or a joint labor-management cooperation committee, as defined, to bring a civil action to enforce the liability against a direct contractor under these provisions, as specified. The bill would require a subcontractor, upon request from the direct contractor, to provide specified information regarding the subcontractor’s and third party’s work on the project and would provide that the direct contractor could withhold disputed sums upon the subcontractor’s failure to provide the requested information, as specified. The bill would provide that these obligations and remedies are in addition to any other remedy provided by law. The bill would provide that its provisions are severable.
AB 1080 Public contracts: bid preferences: employee health care coverage – Sent to Assembly
Existing law imposes various requirements with respect to contracting by public entities. This bill would require a state agency awarding specified contracts to provide a 5% bid preference to a bidder or subcontractor that provided credible health care coverage, as defined, to employees during the 12-month period immediately preceding submission of the bid. The bill would require a bidder and its subcontractors to submit claim statements, on a form developed by the Department of General Services with the Department of Industrial Relations, certifying that the bidder and all of the listed subcontractors qualify for the bid preference. The bill would require the bidder and contractors to continue to provide credible health care coverage to employees, as specified. The bill would impose civil penalties for bidder and contractor violations of those requirements.
AB 318 Local Agency Public Construction Act: job order contracting: school districts: community college districts – Sent to Governor
The Local Agency Public Construction Act authorizes job order contracting for school districts until January 1, 2022. The act restricts job order contracting to school districts that have entered into a project labor agreement or agreements, as defined, that will apply to all public works in excess of $25,000 undertaken by the school district through at least December 31, 2021, regardless of what contracting procedure is used to award that work. The act excludes any architect, engineer, or consultant retained by the school district to assist in the development of the job order contract documents from participation in the preparation of a bid with any job order contractor. The act requires job order contractors to submit a questionnaire to the school district containing specified information verified under oath. This bill would revise that restriction to restrict job order contracting under the act to school districts that have entered into a project labor agreement or agreements that will apply to all public works awarded through job order contracting and to all other public works that exceed a monetary threshold set by the school district. The bill would additionally exclude an architect, engineer, or consultant retained to assist the school district in the development of the job order contract documents from bidding. The bill would also exclude contractors retained to assist the school district from bidding or participating in the preparation of a bid with any job order contractor.
SB 418 Public contracts: skilled and trained workforce – Sent to Governor
Existing law defines a “skilled and trained workforce” to mean a workforce that meets certain conditions for when a public entity is required by statute or regulation to obtain an enforceable commitment that a bidder, contractor, or other entity will use a skilled and trained workforce to complete a contract or project. Existing law also authorizes a public entity to require that a bidder, contractor, or other entity use a skilled and trained workforce to complete a contract or project. This bill would revise the definition of a “skilled and trained workforce” to exclude from the conditions work performed on or after specified dates, in certain occupations.