Government Relations




	No worthwhile legislative goal is ever accomplished alone. That is why Chicago Area LECET works independently and alongside several market-related coalitions and interest groups to ensure a strong labor-management voice on key market, labor and contracting issues. We constantly track pending legislation and fight for laws that will advance and protect union contractors and the Laborer trade.
	You can get information on all current and pending Illinois state bills, as well as legislators and state congressional districts by visiting the Illinois General Assembly website at www.ilga.gov. For federal legislation click here. We will keep you posted and provide links to the specific bills that are most important as they come up for vote. We encourage you to stay informed on legislation that affects union contractors and Laborers. As we at LECET continually try to affect change in the policy landscape in your favor, we will need your help in this effort by contacting your legislators and tell them to support pro-construction and pro-union bills - it truly does matter to them what you think. Visit this page often to find out which bills will benefit you and will need your support.

	Recent efforts have resulted in the passage of an Employee Classification bill designed to make it harder for employers to illegally classify their employees as 1099 subcontractors when they actually meet the definition of employees and should be classified as such. Doing so allows them to avoid a host of employment costs and gives them an unfair advantage when bidding for work against companies that classify their employees properly. LECET helped the effort to pass this bill in a number of ways, including the partial funding of an important study conducted by the Department of Economics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. The study is titled "The Economic Costs of Employee Misclassification in the State of Illinois", and examines just that - what is the affect to the economy of misclassification - how much unemployment insurance is being lost, how much income tax revenue is being lost, how much it raises workers compensation premiums, etc. Read the full study here: The Economic Costs of Employee Misclassification Also, view the full text of the Employee Classification Act (Public Act 095-0026) here, which takes effect January 1, 2008.

	Certified Payroll Requirements (Public Act 94-0515) Effective August 10, 2005, contractors and subcontractors on public works projects must submit certified payroll records on a monthly basis to the public body in charge of the construction project, along with a statement affirming that such records are true and accurate, that the wages paid to each worker are not less than the required prevailing rate and that the contractor is aware that filing records he or she knows to be false is a Class B misdemeanor. The certified payroll records must include for every worker employed on the public works project the name, address, telephone number, social security number, job classification, hourly wages paid in each pay period, number of hours worked each day, and starting and ending time of work each day. These certified payroll records are considered public records and public bodies must make these records available to the public under the Freedom of Information Act, with the exception of the employee's address, telephone number and social security number. Any contractor who fails to submit a certified payroll or knowingly files a false certified payroll is guilty of a Class B misdemeanor.

	Increased Penalties for Prevailing Wage Violations (Public Act 94-0488) Effective January 1, 2006, penalties for violations of the Prevailing Wage Act will increase from 20% to 50% of the underpaid amounts for second or subsequent violations. An additional penalty of 5% of the underpayment penalty must be paid to workers for each month the wages remain unpaid (up from the current 2% penalty). For violations that occur after January 1,2006, the debarment period --during which contractors are ineligible for public works contracts -increases from 2 years to 4 years if two notices of violation are issued/serious violations occur within a 5-year period. In addition, a new monetary penalty of $5,000 may be assessed against contractors who retaliate against employees who report violations or file complaints under the Prevailing Wage Act.
	Check this site often for updates on other pending legislation and ways to help pass legislation that will secure your place in the workforce and ensure a fair bidding process for all contractors.