Labor Committee Resurrects Contractor Wage Mandate

State lawmakers are considering legislation holding general contractors liable for subcontractors who owe wages on private construction jobs.

HB 6955 applies to private construction jobs, which are not held to prevailing wage laws, and allows employees of subcontractors to bring civil actions against general contractors.

The legislature’s Labor and Public Employees Committee introduced the measure, which is similar to measures raised in previous sessions.

Under current law, general contractors are already liable for a subcontractor’s failure to pay wages for employees that are classified under federal and state prevailing wage rules.

However, private construction jobs are not held to this standard.

The bill requires general contractors to request wage and payroll information from all subcontractors on private construction jobs, something that opponents of the bill claim to be nearly impossible.

Shifting Liability, Costs

“This bill will do nothing to punish bad actors,” KBE Building Corporation’s Tim O’Brien told the committee.

“Instead it will only punish good contractors by shifting liability and additional costs to those that have not committed any violation. 

O’Brien added that the bill adds additional administrative costs for subcontractors, forced to file regular payroll records to general contractors, a burden for many considering their size and scope of work. 

“This bill will do nothing to punish bad actors.”

KBE’s Tim O’Brien

Home Builders and Remodelers Association of Connecticut president and CEO Jim Perras testified that “existing labor laws provide adequate remedies for wage disputes without disproportionately penalizing contractors.”

“As Connecticut continues to invest in new and affordable housing, we need to be conscious of the laws we pass that could have a negative impact on contractors and subcontractors who are ultimately the ones who will construct new housing and developments,” he said.

CBIA’s Paul Amarone told the committee the mandate “will inevitably increase the cost to do construction work, slow the process of completing jobs, put general contractors in the business of wage enforcement, and open several contractors to added liability.”

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For more information, contact CBIA’s Paul Amarone (860.244.1978).