As is true during most sessions of the Virginia General Assembly, several bills are winding their way through the legislature that construction professionals and their attorneys should keep an eye on.
Here is a list of some key ones with a brief description (to get a full picture and status of the respective bill, I recommend that you read the actual LIS description and the text of the bill as linked below):
SB426: Fair share fees. Authorizes an employer, pursuant to an agreement between the employer and a labor union or labor organization, to require as a condition of employment any employee who is not a member of such labor union or labor organization and is a member of a collective bargaining unit, where the labor union or labor organization is the exclusive representative of the members of the collective bargaining unit, to pay a fair share fee to compensate the labor union or labor organization for the costs of representing the nonmember employee. The House of Delegates analog to this bill is HB358.
UPDATE: This bill has been passed by indefinitely in Senate committee.
SB8: Prevailing wage; public works contracts; penalty. Requires contractors and subcontractors under any public contract with a state agency for public works to pay wages, salaries, benefits, and other remuneration to any mechanic, laborer, or worker employed, retained, or otherwise hired to perform services in connection with the public contract for public works at the prevailing wage rate. This same requirement found in HB114 has been incorporated into HB833 which passed the house as of February 11, 2020.
UPDATE: This bill has passed the Senate.
UPDATE 2: Both the House and Senate have proposed substitutes. The House substitute for SB8 has left comittee and the amended Senate version of HB833 has passed the Senate.
SB838: Nonpayment of wages; private action; liability for payment of wages due under construction contracts; penalties. Provides that an employee has a private cause of action against an employer who fails to pay wages to recover the amount of wages due plus interest at eight percent annually from the date the wages were due. Bill further provides among other things that construction contracts entered into on or after July 1, 2018, shall be deemed to include a provision under which the general contractor and subcontractor at any tier are jointly and severally liable to pay the wages due to any subcontractor’s employees. If the wages due to the subcontractor’s employees are not paid, the general contractor is subject to criminal and civil penalties for which an employer is liable for failing or refusing to pay wages.
UPDATE: The retroactivity to 2018 has been removed from the latest version of SB838.
UPDATE 2: This bill has passed the Senate with amendments. The House anaolg, HB123, passed the House on February 5, 2020.
UPDATE 3: House has recommended a substitute to SB838 that essentially mimics the original HB123 as it passed the House and the Senate has proposed a substitute that mimics the passed SB838.
UPDATE 4: Both substitute bills have passed the respective chambers as of February 28, 2020.
UPDATE 5: As of March 2, 2020, the Senate rejected the House substitute. Despite this rejection, the House has insisted on a conference committee. On March 5, 2020, the conferees were appointed by the respective houses. For the list of conferees, click on the links to SB838 above.
UPDATE 6: As of March 7, 2020 the House and Senate have agreed to the conference report with amendments to the House substitute relating to conditions under which the terms of the new statute apply.
HB153: Right to work. Repeals the provisions of the Code of Virginia that, among other things, prohibit any agreement or combination between an employer and a labor union or labor organization whereby (i) nonmembers of the union or organization are denied the right to work for the employer, (ii) membership in the union or organization is made a condition of employment or continuation of employment by such employer, or (iii) the union or organization acquires an employment monopoly in any such enterprise. In short, this bill would allow “closed shops” in Virginia and allow employers to require union membership as a condition of employment as opposed to allowing the choice to employees whether to join a union or not when working for an employer.
UPDATE: This bill has been left in the House Appropriations committee.
SB182: Project labor agreements; public procurement. Repeals the provision enacted in 2012 that requires state agencies to ensure that neither the state agency nor any construction manager acting on its behalf (i) requires or prohibits bidders, offerors, contractors, or subcontractors to enter into or adhere to project labor agreements with labor organizations or (ii) discriminates against bidders, offerors, contractors, subcontractors, or operators for becoming or refusing to sign or adhere to project labor agreements on the same or other related public works projects. The House of Delegates analog, HB358 has passed the house.
UPDATE: This bill has passed the Senate. The House analog, HB358, passed the House on February 5, 2020.
UPDATE 2: The House has proposed an amendment by way of substitute to SB182 and the Senate has passed HB358 with amendments as of February 26, 2020.
UPDATE 3: House has adopted Senate amendments to HB358 and passed the substitute to SB182 as of February 28, 2020.
UPDATE 4: The House and Senate have both passed this bill.
These are just some of the bills that could impact construction in Virginia moving forward. I encourage you to let me know of others of which you are aware and to keep abreast of the bills as they move through the Virginia legislature.
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