Prevailing Wage and Public Works Questions
During the month of October, over forty CSA members and guests participated in two CSA seminars conducted on the new Prevailing Wage & Public Works Rules with the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) – one in Ontario on October 20th and the second on October 29th in Livermore. In Ontario, the presenters included two field enforcement officers from DIR; Ms. Kristina Abadjian and Mr. Paul Tsan, as well as our CSA director Jon Hoffman. In Livermore, the seminar was conducted by two field enforcement officers (Deputy Labor Commissioner Jason Lawless and Kay Tsen) and Eric Elbert, Senior Apprenticeship Consultant.
All four field enforcement officers with DIR – their bio’s indicate they enforce prevailing wage and apprenticeship laws – were able to speak first person about how an enforcement officer reviews a case and administers the applicable regulations. Their thirty minute power point presentation focused on how to access the pertinent information on the DIR Website, how to fill out the required forms, and potential problems that may arise if all the rules and regulations are not followed and adhered to. Following their Power Point presentation, they allowed thirty minutes of time to answer questions our members had regarding which categories a journeyman should be assigned, to determine the proper prevailing wage. Interestingly, the (Ontario) enforcement officers were unable, or unwilling, to answer any questions regarding the apprenticeship laws – even though – they are responsible to “enforce” the apprenticeship ratio that is required to be followed; instead, they referred us over to another agency, the Division of Apprenticeship Standards (DAS).
Director Jon Hoffman quickly stepped up to the plate and conducted the second half of the Ontario seminar in a workshop format
Director Jon Hoffman quickly stepped up to the plate and conducted the second half of the Ontario seminar in a workshop format; providing those in attendance with additional information received from an earlier DIR session he attended on behalf of CSA. Then fortunately, the CSA office was able to pursue and attain participation from DAS for the Livermore venue.
There are still questions unanswered and clarification needed, relevant to sign contracting in California when a project is determined to fall within DIR’s purview – CSA will remain actively engaged in both the prevailing wage and apprentice issues the California Sign Industry is dealing with.
Teresa M. Young has been a consultant to entrepreneurs since 1986, in both retail and B2B sectors. In 1991, she became President of Sign Biz, Inc., a full-service business development company. Young sits on multiple boards, including as Past Chairwoman of both the International Sign Association (ISA) and California Sign Association. She is an accomplished code writer, web developer and contributor to the Git Repository. Young is also an in-demand speaker, engaging business owners with topical and powerful business insights and strategies in support of best business practices and modern marketing strategies under her MintyWorks and Coffee with T brands. 200 click-and-mortar enterprises were established under the Sign Biz business model with more than $19,000,000 worth of SBA-backed funding for these businesses.