Legal Compliance: California Regulation Updates Requirements and Penalties for Public Works Contractors

• The new law mandates all construction workers on public works projects to be skilled and trained
• The workforce ratio of journeymen that graduated from approved apprentice programs increased to 30-60%
• Workforce requirements are to be reviewed and enforced on a monthly basis

eBacon, the cloud-based Certified Payroll Compliance platform, now offers a feature to help contractors simplify compliance with California’s updated skilled and trained workforce requirements. The new law, AB3018, mandates all construction workers on public works projects should be skilled and trained. It also increased the workforce ratio of journeymen that graduated from approved apprentice programs to 30% – 60%, depending on the classification. Previously, contractors were able to fulfill workforce ratio requirements across the entire project. Now, these workforce requirements are to be reviewed and enforced on a monthly basis. 

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Helping contractors avoid fines and non-payments

Contractors not in compliance with skilled and trained workforce requirements are subject to fines up to $10,000 per project/classification per month. This extra burden increases the risk and costs to contractors through more complicated workforce management and compliance reporting.

“Other compliance software programs only tell you what happened at the end of the month, well after you can make adjustments to stay in compliance,” states Jack Biltis, CEO of eBacon. “We wanted to give our customers compliance insight in real-time so they can update schedules and avoid incredibly hefty fines.” 

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eBacon’s software can now make managing this ratio easier by allowing employers to select a skilled workforce type per employee for each prevailing wage project. The platform triggers daily email alerts to employers providing an overview of skilled workforce ratios on each job site. Contractors can determine staffing changes at different sites before monthly reports are due for submission. Month-end reports can be generated in minutes, simplifying the process for submitting certified payroll reports to the appropriate agencies.

“These new regulations generated a significant amount of risk to our customers,” states Biltis. “We created this feature based on their feedback and the need to have more control over their workforce compliance.”

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