Report Title:
Service Contracts; Wage Protections
Description:
Establishes wage protections for service employees working for state and county contractors. Imposes penalties for violations.
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THE SENATE |
S.B. NO. |
57 |
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TWENTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2005 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
relating to wage of workers on service contracts.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The legislature finds that service employees working for contractors of the State and counties deserve the same wage protections long established in federal and state law as the right of construction laborers and mechanics. The legislature further finds that the existing language of 103-55, Hawaii Revised Statutes, while laudatory, has too many exemptions and insufficient provisions for enforcement, rendering it ineffective in terms of being able to accomplish its express purpose to assure that contracted "services to be rendered shall be performed by employees paid at wages or salaries not less than the wages paid to public officers and employees for similar work."
Paraphrasing the State's Report of the Senate Labor Committee in recommending passage of the State's prevailing wage statute for construction laborers in 1955, the legislature declares that it is the public policy of the State that bids for the performance of public work should be based upon the relative skill and efficiency of the contractors concerned and not on a difference in wages paid. To state the principle another way, government money, coming from the taxes of all of us, should not be used to subsidize contractors who are depressing the wages of others. The purpose of this Act is to establish wage protections for service employees working for state and county contractors.
SECTION 2. Section 103-55, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§103-55 Wages, hours, and working conditions of employees of contractors performing services. (a) Before any offeror enters into a contract to perform services in excess of [$25,000] $10,000 for any governmental agency, the offeror shall certify that the services to be performed will be performed under the following conditions:
Wages. The services to be rendered shall be performed by employees paid at wages or salaries not less than the wages paid to public officers and employees for similar work.
Compliance with labor laws. All applicable laws of the federal and state governments relating to workers' compensation, unemployment compensation, payment of wages, and safety will be fully complied with.
(b) No contract to perform services for any governmental contracting agency in excess of [$25,000] $10,000 shall be granted unless all the conditions of this section are met. Failure to comply with the conditions of this section during the period of contract to perform services shall result in cancellation of the contract, unless such noncompliance is corrected within a reasonable period as determined by the procurement officer. Final payment of a contract or release of bonds or both shall not be made unless the procurement officer has determined that the noncompliance has been corrected.
It shall be the duty of the governmental contracting agency awarding the contract to perform services [in excess of $25,000] and the department of labor and industrial relations to enforce this section.
(c) This section shall apply to all contracts to perform services in excess of [$25,000,] $10,000, including contracts to supply ambulance service and janitorial service.
This section shall not apply to:
(1) Managerial[, supervisory, or clerical personnel.] or supervisory personnel;
(2) Contracts for supplies, materials, or printing[.];
(3) Contracts for utility services[.]; and
(4) Contracts [to perform personal services under paragraphs (2), (3), (12), and (15) of section 76-16, paragraphs (7), (8), and (9) of section 46-33, and paragraphs (7), (8), and (12) of section 76-77.] with other governmental agencies.
[(5) Contracts for professional services.
(6) Contracts to operate refreshment concessions in public parks, or to provide food services to educational institutions.
(7) Contracts with nonprofit institutions.]
(d) Every contract, and any bid specification therefor, entered into by a governmental contracting agency under this section shall contain a provision that:
(1) Requires the contractor to assure the right of all employees under relevant state or federal law to form, join, or assist labor organizations to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing, and to exercise these legal rights without interference;
(2) Requires the contractor to commit no act or make any statement that will directly or indirectly state or imply the contractor's preference or non-preference for unionization of its employees in general, or for recognition of any bona fide labor organization as the exclusive representative of the employees working on contracts covered by this section, should at any time during the contract period a labor organization or any employee of the contractor seek to organize employees of the contractor;
(3) Requires a contractor to grant access to its employees by any bona fide labor organization, in the employee lunchrooms, lounges, or other non-public areas on the contractor's premises during employees' off-work periods, for organizational purposes, provided that there is no interference with normal work operations, should at any time during the contract period a labor organization or any employee of the contractor seek to organize employees of the contractor; and
(4) Requires that a disinterested, neutral party selected by the director shall conduct a review of employee authorization cards submitted by any such labor organization in support of its claim to represent a majority of employees in an appropriate bargaining unit in the event that during the contract period a bona fide labor organization requests recognition within an appropriate bargaining unit. If a majority of employees within such a unit has designated the signatory labor organization to represent them, the contractor shall recognize that labor organization as the exclusive representative of the designated bargaining unit, and negotiations will commence for a collective bargaining agreement.
(e) Any contractor found in violation of this section shall be subject to a fine of $5,000 per violation to the applicable agency, plus attorney's fees and costs to the agency or affected employees for enforcing this section."
SECTION 3. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
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INTRODUCED BY: |
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