Friday, May 29, 2015

Sacramento AB 722 and SB3/Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces 

Yesterday was a busy day in Sacramento. According to the SF Chronicle today over 650 bills came up before  the Senate and Appropriation Committees on Thursday.  The reason this is so important is that all bills have to get to the Senate or Assembly floor by today. To our great disappointment  AB 722 our  equity crowd funding bill was sent to suspense effectively stopping the bill . We are not sure why this happened as the Department of Business Oversight  said there was no cost to the bill  and the bill was supported by 27 business associations and labor. We are not going to give up and will look for ways to move this forward.

Passing yesterday in Appropriation was Mark Leno increase in the minimum wage. The bill would increase the minimum wage  to $11 per hour in 2016 and $13 per hour  in 2017. In 2019 the wage will be indexed to increase annually  by the Consumer Price Index.

I don’t know how many businesses have Federal  contracts but please see below request from Yvonne Lee the Regional Advocate for Region 9. If you are impacted by this I would appreciate your comments

Yvonne Y. Lee | Regional  Advocate for AmSam, AZ, CA, CNMI, GU, HI, NV |
| SBA Office of Advocacy | 455 Market Street, #600, San Francisco, CA 94105 | p 415/744-8493| f 202/481-4167 |
| yvonne.lee@sba.govwebsitelistservblog | Facebooktwitter |



Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces
On May 28, 2015 the FAR Council published a proposed rule, Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces,  to amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement the Executive Order “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces.”  The Executive Order (E.O.) requires that for contracts over $500,000 prospective and existing contractors disclose whether under certain labor laws there has been any administrative merits determination, civil judgment, or arbitral award or decision rendered against them during the preceding three-year period. The E.O. directs agencies to include clauses in their contracts that require similar disclosures by certain subcontractors so their prime contractors can also consider labor violations when determining whether there have been any similar violations by prospective or existing subcontractors. The E.O. further requires that processes be established to assist contractors and subcontractors to come into compliance with labor laws. To achieve paycheck transparency for workers, the E.O. requires contractors and subcontractors to provide individuals with information each pay period regarding how they are paid and to provide notice to those workers whom they treat as independent contractors. The E.O. also addresses arbitration of employee claims.

The definition of “labor laws” is derived from the E.O and includes the following statutes and E.O.s:
  • The Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. chapter 8
  • The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) of 1970
  • The Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act
  • The National Labor Relations Act
  • 40 U.S.C. chapter 31, subchapter IV, formerly known as the Davis-Bacon Act
  • 41 U.S.C. chapter 67, formerly known as the Service Contract Act
  • E.O. 11246 of September 24, 1965 (Equal Employment Opportunity)
  • Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
  • The Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1972 and the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974
  • The Family and Medical Leave Act
  • Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
  • The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
  • The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967
  • E.O. 13658 of February 12, 2014 (Establishing a Minimum Wage for Contractors).

Comments on this rule are due on July 27, 2015.
•          Comment to the Proposed Rule on Regulations.gov
•          Link to the Fact Sheet on FAR Case 2014-025
•          Link to DOL Guidance Document
•          Link to DOL Q&A
•          Advocacy Contact: Major Clark(link sends e-mail) or call 205-205-6533

This proposed rule, and a proposed guidance document being issued simultaneously by the Department of Labor (DOL), are intended to implement the E.O.'s requirements.   The comment period is for 60 days; comments are due by July 27, 2015.  Listed below is a Department of Labor landing page for Q&As and a fact sheet on FAR Case 2014-025, Far Pay and Safe Workplaces.


Scott Hauge
President
Small Business California
2311 Taraval Street
San Francisco, CA  94116
shauge@cal-insure.com
415-680-2188
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