Page 185 - An Indispensible Resource for Being a Credible Activist

regarding the family temporary disability benefit program established by the bill. Penalties
for knowingly making a false statement or knowingly failing to disclose a material fact in
order to improperly obtain benefits or avoid paying benefits or taxes are increased from $20
to $250 per statement or nondisclosure. Penalties for other willful violations of the law are
increased from $50 to $500, and additional penalties for violations with intent to defraud the
program are increased from no less than $250 to no more than $1,000.
Miscellaneous. The State Senate memorialized the Congress of the United States to
enact legislation requiring the annual publication of a list of companies outsourcing jobs to
other countries. Such a requirement would raise public awareness and allow State and local
governments to prepare initiatives targeted toward keeping companies from outsourcing crit-
ical U.S. jobs.
Plant closing. The State Revised Statutes concerning pre-notification of certain plant
closings, transfers, and mass layoffs were amended. The amendment affects employers who
employ 100 or more full-time employees for not less than 60 days or for the period required
pursuant to the Federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act or pursuant to any amend-
ment thereto, whichever is longer. Before the first termination of employment occurs in con-
nection with a termination or transfer of plant operations or a mass layoff, such employers
must provide notification of the termination or transfer of operations or the mass layoff to
the State commissioner of labor and workforce development, the chief elected official of the
municipality in which the establishment is located, each employee whose employment is to
be terminated, and any collective-bargaining units of employees in the establishment.
Prevailing wage. The State Economic Development Authority shall adopt rules and reg-
ulations requiring that workers employed in the performance of construction contracts,
including contracts for millwork fabrication under the authority of financial assistance by
the State, be paid at a rate not less than the prevailing-wage rate. This requirement also shall
apply to the performance of any contract to construct, renovate, or otherwise prepare a facil-
ity for operations necessary for the receipt of authorized State financial assistance, unless
the work is performed on a facility owned by a landlord of the entity receiving the assis-
tance and less than 55 percent of the facility is leased by the entity at the time of the con-
tract and under any agreement to subsequently lease the facility. The prevailing wage rate
shall be the rate determined by the State commissioner of labor and workforce development.
The prevailing wage shall not be paid for construction commencing more than two years
after an entity has executed a commitment letter regarding authorized financial assistance
with the State and the first payment or other provision of the assistance is received. When
a public utility in the State is undergoing construction of some kind, the classification “con-
struction” will refer to construction, reconstruction, installation, demolition, restoration, or
alteration of facilities of the public utility. This classification shall not include operational
work such as flagging, plowing snow, managing vegetation in and around utility rights-of-
way, marking out boundaries or roads, performing janitorial services, landscaping, survey-
ing leaks, performing meter work, and making miscellaneous repairs. Any construction
contractor contracting with a public utility to engage in construction work on that utility
shall employ, on the site, only employees who have successfully completed safety training
certified by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and required for work to be
performed on that site. Any employee employed by a construction contractor to work on a

168 The H R Toolkit