California’s Labor Enforcement Task Force Continues to Set Fire to the Underground Economy
February 16, 2016 —
Evelin Y. Bailey – California Construction Law BlogIf you’re a fan of the Hunger Games trilogy, either the books or the movies, you’re likely familiar with “The Hob,” the black market in District 12 where people buy and sell banned items. It’s where bow-wielding protagonist Katniss Everdeen and her childhood friend Gale Hawthorne sell their poached game and where, in the movie but not the book (what can we say, we’re fans), Katniss obtains the “mockingjay” pin which she is later associated with. While The Hob is largely ignored by soldiers of the totalitarian “Capitol,” in the third book Catching Fire, the Hob is reduced to a pile of rubbish and ash by the Capital as an example to punish the insurrectionists led by Katniss.
The Labor Enforcement Task Force (LETF), a joint task force composed of several of California’s agencies including the Contractors State License Board, Department of Industrial Relations and Employment Development Department is also setting fire, at least figuratively, to California’s underground economy. See our earlier post Joint Labor Task Force Targets Underground Economy for further background on LETF.
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Evelin Y. Bailey, Wendel Rosen Black & Dean LLPMs. Bailey may be contacted at
ebailey@wendel.com
ACS Recognized by Construction Executive Magazine in the Top 50 Construction Law Firms of 2021
September 06, 2021 —
Ahlers Cressman & Sleight PLLCACS is pleased to announce that the firm has been recognized by Construction Executive magazine in The Top 50 Construction Law Firms™ for 2021. Construction Executive ranked ACS number 31 among the top 50 construction practices in the country.
ACS is known for our depth of knowledge of the construction industry and experience in construction law. Our lawyers hold leadership positions within state and national industry organizations. Two of our lawyers are past chairs of the Washington State Bar Association’s Construction Law Section and the current chair, five of our lawyers have served as the Chair of the Associated General Contractors of Washington’s Legal Affairs Committee, and the majority of our lawyers are recognized as Super Lawyers and Rising Stars in Super Lawyers Magazine/Thomson Reuters.
Since it was first published in 2003, Construction Executive has become the leading trade magazine for news, market developments, and business issues impacting the construction industry. The magazine reaches more than 55,000 commercial, industrial, and institutional contractors and construction-related business owners. Each issue of Construction Executive includes articles designed to help owners and top managers run a more profitable and productive construction business.
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Ahlers Cressman & Sleight PLLC
How the New Dropped Object Standard Is Changing Jobsite Safety
January 02, 2019 —
Derek Rose - Construction ExecutiveIn the United States, a dropped object injures a worker every 11 minutes—equating to nearly 50,000 cases every year. For those who seek medical treatment for these types of injuries, it can cost an average of $42,000. In fact, 5 percent of all fatalities on jobsites are due to falling objects, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
These statistics highlight the overwhelming importance of dropped object prevention. OSHA already identifies dropped object incidents under the category of “Struck by Object” in its widely recognized “Fatal Four” list of the four leading causes of fatalities in the construction industry.
Reprinted courtesy of
Derek Rose, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved.
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EEOC Builds on Best Practice Guidance Regarding Harassment Within the Construction Industry
August 12, 2024 —
Abby M. Warren & Christohper A. Costain - Construction Law ZoneIn June 2024, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued
guidance tailored to the construction industry concerning harassment in the workplace or at the jobsite. The guidance is important for construction industry leaders and employers to understand how to prevent and remedy harassment in the workplace — more than a third of all EEOC discrimination charges filed between 2019 and 2023 asserted harassment. The guidance represents the EEOC’s latest effort in executing its Strategic Enforcement Plan for Fiscal Years 2024 to 2028, which, in part, focuses on combatting systemic harassment and eliminating barriers in recruitment and hiring, particularly for underrepresented groups in certain industries, including women in construction, through the EEOC’s enforcement efforts. In this article, we highlight key principles and practices from this guidance
Leadership and Accountability
The guidance reiterates that consistent and demonstrated leadership is critical to creating and maintaining a workplace culture where harassment is unacceptable and strictly prohibited. Worksite leaders, including project owners, crew supervisors, and union stewards, are each expected to regularly communicate that harassment is intolerable through several suggested efforts.
Reprinted courtesy of
Abby M. Warren, Robinson+Cole and
Christohper A. Costain, Robinson+Cole
Ms. Warren may be contacted at awarren@rc.com
Mr. Costain may be contacted at ccostain@rc.com
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There’s an Unusual Thing Happening in the Housing Market
October 03, 2022 —
Tracy Alloway - BloombergIt’s no secret that the US housing market has been softening as interest rates rise at the fastest pace in decades.
Higher mortgage rates mean the dramatic growth in home prices that we’ve seen over the past two years is beginning to slow. Sales of new homes recently came in at the weakest monthly level since 2018. Meanwhile, purchase applications are down 20% year-on-year, and so on.
But the rapid pace of rate hikes has also resulted in an interesting statistical anomaly. Months of supply — or the number of months it would take for the existing inventory of homes on the market to sell at the current sales pace — has jumped to 4.1 from a record low of just 2.1 back in January of this year. And, as Morgan Stanley strategist James Egan notes, rarely have we seen an increase of this size.
To some extent, the jump in inventory is to be expected. It’s maths. As sales volume falls while inventories rise, months of supply naturally increases.
But such a jump is intuitively striking, and the key question for housing-watchers is whether the absolute level of inventory — which is still low by many measures, even as homebuilders have ramped up construction since last year — will turn out to be more important than its rate of change. A housing market that is structurally undersupplied is going to be a lot less vulnerable to fewer sales.
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Tracy Alloway, Bloomberg
Just Because You Label It A “Trade Secret” Does Not Make It A “Trade Secret”
January 31, 2018 —
David Adelstein - Florida Construction Legal UpdatesEverything is a “trade secret,” right? Nope. What if I mark it as a “trade secret” Still nope. But, you already knew those answers.
This is an especially important issue when dealing with public entities, as demonstrated by the recent opinion in Raiser-DC, LLC v. B&L Service, Inc., 43 Fla. L. Weekly D145a (Fla. 4th DCA 2018). In this case, Uber and Broward County entered into an agreement regarding Uber’s services at Fort Lauderdale airport and Port Everglades. Per the agreement, Uber furnished monthly reports relating to the number of pickups and drop-offs, as well as information relating to the fee associated with the pickups and drop-offs. Uber marked these reports as constituting trade secrets. It did so to preclude this information from being disclosed to the public.
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David Adelstein, Florida Construction Legal UpdatesMr. Adelstein may be contacted at
dadelstein@gmail.com
Checking the Status of your Contractor License During Contract Work is a Necessity: The Expanded “Substantial Compliance” under B&P 7031 is Here
June 05, 2017 —
Ivo G. Daniele – Newmeyer & Dillion LLP News AlertIt is paramount that a contractor diligently maintains its license prior to and during the performance of any contract work. Failure to do so could result in barring a contractor from receiving payment and/or disgorgement of profits received under the construction contract.
California Business and Professions Code section 7031 is part of the Contractors State License Law (Business & Prof. section 700 et seq.), and is both feared and loathed by all contractors performing work in the state of California. This draconian statute is known as the “Shield” and was enacted over 70 years ago for the singular purpose to bar all actions by contractors seeking compensation for unlicensed contract work – even precluding a contractor from enforcing his or her mechanic’s lien rights. However, a contractor could potentially avoid the harshness of B&P 7031 by establishing that he or she had substantially complied with the appropriate licensing requirements.
SUBSTANTIAL COMPLIANCE WITH LICENSE REQUIREMENTS PRIOR TO 2017 AMENDMENT
The substantial compliance exception is found in section B&P 7031(e), which authorizes the court to determine that there has been substantial compliance with licensure requirements, if the contractor has shown at an evidentiary hearing that he or she engaged in the unlicensed work had:
- Been duly licensed as a contractor in this state prior to the performance of the act or contract;
- Acted reasonably and in good faith to maintain the license;
- Did not know or reasonably should not have known that he or she was not licensed when he or she performed the work; and
- Acted promptly and in good faith to reinstate the license once it learned the license had lapsed.
Although not impossible, satisfying all four requirements of the exception was challenging for the contractor, specifically, requirement # (3) – the lack of knowledge that he or she was unlicensed during performance of work.
SUBSTANTIAL COMPLIANCE POST 2017
Fortunately, Governor Brown heard the collective cry for relief and signed Assembly Bill 1793 (“AB 1793”) into law. The new bill revises the criteria for the court to determine if a contractor is in substantial compliance with the licensing requirements by deleting requirement # (3) in its entirety and modestly amending requirement # (4) to require the contractor to act promptly and in good faith to remedy the failure to comply with the licensure requirements upon learning of the failure.
As a result, the substantial compliance exception under B&P 7031(e) reads as follows:
(e) The judicial doctrine of substantial compliance shall not apply under this section where the person who engaged in the business or acted in the capacity of a contractor has never been a duly licensed contractor in this state. However, notwithstanding subdivision (b) of Section 143, the court may determine that there has been substantial compliance with licensure requirements under this section if it is shown at an evidentiary hearing that the person who engaged in the business or acted in the capacity of a contractor
(1) had been duly licensed as a contractor in this state prior to the performance of the act or contract, (2) acted reasonably and in good faith to maintain proper licensure, and (3) acted promptly and in good faith to remedy the failure to comply with the licensure requirements upon learning of the failure.
This new legislation has tempered the burden of proof born by the contractor in establishing substantial compliance, although be it minor in its modification, the fact of the matter remains the same – be diligent in maintaining your license during all phases of contract work.
Ivo Daniele is a seasoned associate in the Walnut Creek office focusing his practice on commercial transactions and business and construction litigation. For questions regarding California Business and Professions Code section 7031, please feel free to contact Ivo Daniele at (925) 988-3222 or ivo.daniele@ndlf.com.
About Newmeyer & Dillion
For more than 30 years, Newmeyer & Dillion has delivered creative and outstanding legal solutions and trial results for a wide array of clients. With over 70 attorneys practicing in all aspects of business, employment, real estate, construction and insurance law, Newmeyer & Dillion delivers legal services tailored to meet each client’s needs. Headquartered in Newport Beach, California, with offices in Walnut Creek, California and Las Vegas, Nevada, Newmeyer & Dillion attorneys are recognized by The Best Lawyers in America©, and Super Lawyers as top tier and some of the best lawyers in California, and have been given Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review's AV Preeminent® highest rating. For additional information, call 949-854-7000 or visit www.ndlf.com.
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Merger to Create Massive Los Angeles Construction Firm
July 16, 2014 —
Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFFAECOM Technology Corp., a Los Angeles engineering and construction firm, has agreed to pay $4 billion to acquire URS Corp., their San Francisco competitor. According to the Sacramento Bee, “The combined company will employ about 95,000 people in 150 countries.”
AECOM is currently building the World Trade Center in New York, and previous projects include the Los Angeles Police Department headquarters, and renovations to the Port of Los Angeles and the Bradley international terminal at the Los Angeles International Airport, the Sacramento Bee reported. Furthermore, “URS has worked on the Garden Grove (22) Freeway reconstruction, the UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center, the Port of Long Beach, the Gold Line Eastside Extension in Los Angeles and the Disneyland resort expansion.”
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