HB5133 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB093 20826 DRJ 46751 b

93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2003 and 2004
HB5133

Introduced 02/05/04, by Dan Reitz

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

820 ILCS 130/11

from Ch. 48, par. 39s-11

Amends the Prevailing Wage Act. Provides that a joint labor-management committee established pursuant to the federal Labor Management Cooperation Act of 1978 may bring an action in any court of competent jurisdiction against an employer that fails to pay the prevailing wage to its employees. Provides that such an action must be commenced not later than 3 years after the date that the public works project was completed. Provides that the Department of Labor also has a right of action on behalf of a labor-management committee.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning employment.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Prevailing Wage Act is amended by changing Section 11 as follows:

(820 ILCS 130/11) (from Ch. 48, par. 39s-11)

Sec. 11. No public works project shall be instituted unless the provisions of this Act have been complied with. The provisions of this Act shall not be applicable to Federal construction projects which require a prevailing wage determination by the United States Secretary of Labor. The Illinois Department of Labor represented by the Attorney General is empowered to sue for injunctive relief against the awarding of any contract or the continuation of work under any contract for public works at a time when the prevailing wage prerequisites have not been met. Any contract for public works awarded at a time when the prevailing wage prerequisites had not been met shall be void as against public policy and the contractor is prohibited from recovering any damages for the voiding of the contract or pursuant to the terms of the contract. The contractor is limited to a claim for amounts actually paid for labor and materials supplied to the public body. Where objections to a determination of the prevailing rate of wages or a court action relative thereto is pending, the public body shall not continue work on the project unless sufficient funds are available to pay increased wages if such are finally determined or unless the Department of Labor certifies such determination of the prevailing rate of wages as correct.

Any laborer, worker or mechanic employed by the contractor or by any sub-contractor under him who is paid for his services in a sum less than the stipulated rates for work done under such contract, shall have a right of action for whatever difference there may be between the amount so paid, and the rates provided by the contract together with costs and such reasonable attorney's fees as shall be allowed by the court. Such contractor or subcontractor shall also be liable to the Department of Labor for 20% of such underpayments and shall be additionally liable to the laborer, worker or mechanic for punitive damages in the amount of 2% of the amount of any such penalty to the State for underpayments for each month following the date of payment during which such underpayments remain unpaid. A joint labor-management committee established pursuant to the federal Labor Management Cooperation Act of 1978 (Section 175a of Title 29 of the United States Code) may bring an action in any court of competent jurisdiction against an employer that fails to pay the prevailing wage to its employees, as required by this Act. This action must be commenced not later 3 years after the date that the public works project was completed. The Department shall also have a right of action on behalf of any individual or labor-management committee who has a right of action under this Section. An action brought to recover same shall be deemed to be a suit for wages, and any and all judgments entered therein shall have the same force and effect as other judgments for wages. At the request of any laborer, workman or mechanic employed by the contractor or by any subcontractor under him who is paid less than the prevailing wage rate required by this Act, the Department of Labor may take an assignment of such wage claim in trust for the assigning laborer, workman or mechanic and may bring any legal action necessary to collect such claim, and the contractor or subcontractor shall be required to pay the costs incurred in collecting such claim.

(Source: P.A. 86-799.)