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Council backs review of wage-and-labor standards for city contracts
Summary
The committee supported staff work to strengthen the city's wage-and-labor-standards ordinance for city-funded contracts, including proposals for a repeat-offender list, longer complaint windows and stronger anti-retaliation measures; staff recommended a stakeholder group to draft ordinance language.
The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Dec. 2 approved staff work to pursue updates to the city's wage-and-labor-standards ordinance governing city-funded construction projects.
Mike Shannon, director of the capital delivery department, described existing monitoring through the city's labor compliance office and the LCP Tracker, saying the department reviewed roughly 24,000 payrolls last year and found about 107 errors that were corrected. The CCR proposed strengthening enforcement against repeat violators (converting some "may" enforcement options to "shall" requirements), extending the complaint window for workers from 60 to 180 days and considering a repeat-offender list that could bar contractors from future solicitations for a set period.
"If we find someone that consistently does it, or a habitual person that violates the wage provisions, that we shall not use them and put them on a list for 3 years," Shannon said is the intent of the proposed approach (described as mirroring the responsible-bidder ordinance). He recommended forming a diverse stakeholder group including labor organizations, contractors and city attorneys to draft changes that remain within state and federal legal guardrails.
Why it matters: The ordinance would apply to city-funded construction projects and aims to ensure taxpayer-funded work pays prevailing wages and that workers have a clear, strengthened path to file complaints and obtain remedies. Staff said existing authority allows withholding payments and other remedies; the proposal would increase enforcement certainty and anti-retaliation protections.
Council action and next steps: The committee voted to endorse the stakeholder process and have staff return with recommended ordinance updates. Council members asked staff to make sure the policy addresses prime/subcontractor responsibilities without unfairly penalizing primes when subs are at fault. Staff said current code makes the prime ultimately responsible but that the stakeholder group could develop targeted language for subs and primes.
No ordinance language was adopted at the meeting; staff will form the stakeholder group and report back with draft recommendations.
