9/17/20
By: Ben Dunlap A recent ruling by the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts underscores the importance of confirming the effectiveness of coverage for contractors and subcontractors on construction projects. In Factory Mut. Ins. Co. v. Skanska United States Bldg., No. 18-cv-11700-DLC, 2020, the Court ruled that a general contractor and subcontractor were…
California Prompt Payment Act: A Tool In The Tool Belt To Secure Payment
9/13/19
By: David Molinari In the construction industry, payments come slowly. Prompt payment laws exist in some form nationwide and can vary from state to state. These laws serve to create timelines for when payments must be made and institute interest penalties for late payments. In California, the contractors are armed with Civil Code 8800 et…
Who Did What for Whom? Construction Lien Rights in Georgia Depend on the Contractor, Not the Cost
3/18/19
By: Jason Kamp In 2013, the Georgia General Assembly expanded the scope of items covered under its construction lien statute, O.C.G.A. § 44-14-361, by amending subsections (c) and (d). The statute now allows contractors to claim liens for contract expenditures for general conditions or other costs that are not strictly for labor, services, or materials…
California’s New Independent Contractor Test
7/11/18
By: Christine Lee On April 30, 2018, the California Supreme Court issued a landmark decision in Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court, No. S222732, in which the Court adopted an extremely broad view of workers who will be deemed “employees” as opposed to “independent contractors” for purposes of claims alleging violations of California’s Wage Orders. …
NLRB Delivers One-Two Punch to Pair of Standards that Have Dogged Employers
12/18/17
By: Paul H. Derrick In a stunning development, the National Labor Relations Board has overruled a pair of controversial standards that have caused headaches in the business community for years. In the first case, the NLRB reversed an Obama-era decision that put employers potentially on the hook for labor law violations committed by their subcontractors and…
Dangers of Hiring Independent Contractors
7/22/13
By: Leanne Prybylski Many contractors hire independent contractors, rather than employees, to avoid paying taxes and benefits. Contractors should be aware, however, that the costs of misclassifying employees as an independent contractors could end up being more expensive than it would have been to pay the taxes and benefits for the employees in the first…
Contractors are Under Greater Scrutiny for Compliance with Davis Bacon Requirements
7/9/13
By: Kamy Molavi Recently, we at FMG’s construction law group have seen several cases involving the Davis Bacon Act. Davis Bacon is the federal law that requires all workers to be paid the “prevailing wages” on federal contracts. The law also applies to a non-federal contract if the project is at least partially paid…
Employer Reporting Deadlines Fast Approaching
9/20/12
By: Ben Mathis
For many employers, the deadline to file various reports to federal agencies regarding their employers is September 30th. This includes filings for EEO-1, the Employer Information Report, and the Veterans Employment Report, commonly known as the VETS-100 or VETS-100A. The EEO-1 filing requirement applies to private employers with 100 or