Bill Text: NJ S980 | 2018-2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Concerns liability of direct contractors for wage claims against subcontractors.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2019-02-14 - Withdrawn from Consideration [S980 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2018-S980-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator TROY SINGLETON
District 7 (Burlington)
SYNOPSIS
Concerns liability of direct contractors for wage claims against subcontractors.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the liability of direct contractors for wage claims against subcontractors and supplementing chapter 11 of Title 34 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. (1) For any contract entered into on or after July 1, 2018 for the erection, construction, alteration, or repair of a building, structure, or other private work in the State, and for any contract entered into on or after July 1, 2018 under which workers are required by any State law to be paid the prevailing wage rates set pursuant to the "New Jersey Prevailing Wage Act," P.L.1963, c.150 (C.34:11-56.25 et seq.), the direct contractor making or taking the contract shall assume, and be liable for, any debt owed to a wage claimant, or third party on the wage claimant's behalf, incurred by a subcontractor at any tier acting under, by, or for the direct contractor for the wage claimant's performance of labor under the contract between the direct contractor and the owner.
(2) The direct contractor's liability under the provisions of this section shall extend only to any unpaid wage, fringe or other benefit payment or contribution plus any interest owed, but shall not extend to penalties or liquidated damages.
(3) A direct contractor or any other person shall not evade, or commit any act that negates, the requirements of this section. This section does not prohibit a direct contractor or subcontractor at any tier from establishing by contract or enforcing any otherwise lawful remedies against a subcontractor it hires for liability created by the nonpayment of wages, fringe or other benefit payments, or contributions by that subcontractor or by a subcontractor at any tier working under that subcontractor.
b. (1) The Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development may enforce against a direct contractor the liability for unpaid wages created by this section by any action that the commissioner is authorized to undertake regarding liability for unpaid wages under the provisions of chapter 11 of Title 34 of the Revised Statutes.
(2) A third party owed fringe or other benefit payments or contributions on a wage claimant's behalf may bring a civil action against a direct contractor to enforce the liability created by subsection a. of this section. The court shall award a prevailing plaintiff in such an action its reasonable attorney's fees and costs, including expert witness fees.
(3) A joint labor-management cooperation committee established pursuant to the federal Labor Management Cooperation Act of 1978 (29 U.S.C. s.175a) may bring an action in any court of competent jurisdiction against a direct contractor or subcontractor at any tier for unpaid wages owed to a wage claimant by the direct contractor or subcontractor for the performance of private work, including unpaid wages owed by the direct contractor, pursuant to subsection a. of this section. The court shall award a prevailing plaintiff in such an action its reasonable attorney's fees and costs, including expert witness fees. Prior to commencement of an action against a direct contractor to enforce the liability created by subsection a. of this section, the committee shall provide the direct contractor and subcontractor that employed the wage claimant with at least 30 days' notice by first-class mail. The notice need only describe the general nature of the claim and shall not limit the liability of the direct contractor or preclude subsequent amendments of an action to encompass additional wage claimants employed by the subcontractor.
(4) No party other than the parties indicated in this subsection b. may bring an action against a direct contractor to enforce the liability created by subsection a. of this section.
c. Unless otherwise provided by law, property of the direct contractor may be attached, after trial, for the payment of any judgment received pursuant to this section.
d. An action brought pursuant to this section shall be filed within one year of the earliest of the following:
(1) recordation of a notice of completion of the direct contract;
(2) recordation of a notice of cessation of the work covered by the direct contract; or
(3) actual completion of the work covered by the direct contract.
e. This section shall not apply to work performed by an employee of the State, a special district, a city, a county, a city and county, or any political subdivision of the State.
f. (1) Upon request by a direct contractor to a subcontractor, the subcontractor and any lower tier subcontractors under contract to the subcontractor shall provide payroll records of its employees who are providing labor on a private work, which payroll records shall not be modified except to prevent disclosure of an individual's full social security number, but shall provide the last four digits of the social security number. The payroll records shall contain information sufficient to apprise the requesting party of the subcontractor's payment status in making fringe or other benefit payments or contributions to a third party on the employee's behalf.
(2) Upon request of a direct contractor to a subcontractor, the subcontractor and any lower tier subcontractors under contract to the subcontractor shall provide the direct contractor information that includes the project name, name and address of the subcontractor, contractor with whom the subcontractor is under contract, anticipated start date, duration, and estimated journeyworker and apprentice hours, and contact information for its subcontractors on the project.
(3) A subcontractor's failure to comply with this section shall not relieve a direct contractor from any of the obligations contained in this section.
g. For purposes of this section, "direct contractor" means a contractor that has a direct contractual relationship with an owner, and "subcontractor" means a contractor that does not have a direct contractual relationship with an owner, including a contractor that has a contractual relationship with a direct contractor or with another subcontractor.
h. The obligations and remedies provided in this section shall be in addition to any obligations and remedies otherwise provided by law, except that nothing in this section shall be construed to impose liability on a direct contractor for anything other than unpaid wages and fringe or other benefit payments or contributions including interest owed.
i. Nothing in this section shall alter the obligation under any other provision of State law of an owner to pay in a timely manner a direct contractor, or of a direct contractor to pay in a timely manner a subcontractor, or any penalties for failing to do so, except that the direct contractor may withhold as "disputed" all sums owed if a subcontractor does not provide in a timely manner the information requested under paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection f. of this section, until that information is provided.
2. This act shall take effect immediately
STATEMENT
This bill, for any contract for the erection, construction, alteration, or repair of a building, structure, or other private work in the State, and for any contract under which workers are required to be paid prevailing wage rates set pursuant to the "New Jersey Prevailing Wage Act," requires the direct contractor to be liable for debt owed to a wage claimant that is incurred by any subcontractor acting under, by, or for the direct contractor for the wage claimant's performance of labor under the contract.
The bill authorizes the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development to bring an action under specified statutes or in a civil action to enforce this liability. It also authorizes a third party owed fringe or other benefits or a joint labor-management cooperation committee to bring a civil action to enforce the liability against a direct contractor under the bill.
The bill requires 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 provides that the direct contractor may withhold disputed sums upon the subcontractor's failure to provide the requested information.
The bill does not apply to any work being done by an employee of the State or any political subdivision of the State, and provides that its obligations and remedies are in addition to any other remedy provided by law.
