Mike exemplified the "Hall of Fame" criteria of honoring outstanding individuals who have played a key role in the development and nurturing of the electrical industry and who have played a creative role in Chicagoland.  The award recognizes individuals whose innovation, hard work, dedication and vision have fostered industrial growth and social progress.  Congratulations, Mike!

 

 

Three separate prevailing wage bills aimed at clarifying what work is covered and how contractors are to be notified that projects are subject to prevailing wage requirements were passed by the General Assembly and signed into law by Governor Pat Quinn this summer. These changes become effective January 1, 2010. 

 

Senate Bill 223 (Public Act 96-0058) clarifies that "public works" includes all projects funded in whole or in part through bonds, grants, loans or other funds made available by or through the State or any of its political subdivisions. 

 

House Bill 952 (Public Act 96-0186) amends the law to explicitly cover all demolition work undertaken by a public body, regardless of whether or not the demolition work is in conjunction with a public works construction project. 

 

House Bill 163 (Public Act 96-0437), holds public bodies financially responsible for any interest, penalties or fines assessed by the Department if they fail to provide proper written notification to a contractor that a project is subject to the Prevailing Wage Act. Similarly, contractors that fail to notify their subcontractors that a project is subject to prevailing wage requirements will be held responsible for any interest, penalties or fines assessed by the Department. However, regardless of whether or not they were properly notified, contractors that fail to pay the proper wages to their workers are still responsible for all back wages owed to those workers.  For more information, please visit the DOL  website at: www.state.il.us/agency/idol/.  
 
Portions of this article were excerpted from Illinois Department of Labor website.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is initiating a national emphasis program (NEP) on recordkeeping to assess the accuracy of injury and illness data recorded by employers. The recordkeeping NEP involves inspecting occupational injury and illness records prepared by businesses and appropriately enforcing regulatory requirements when employers are found to be underrecording injuries and illnesses. "Accurate and honest recordkeeping is vitally important to workers' health and safety," said acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Jordan Barab. "This information is not only used by OSHA to determine which workplaces to inspect, but it is an important tool employers and workers can use to identify health and safety problems in their workplaces." The inspections include a records review, employee interviews, and a limited safety and health inspection of the workplace. The NEP will focus on selected industries with high injury and illness rates. At the request of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and the House Committee on Education and Labor, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a study on the accuracy of employer injury and illness records. This NEP will help OSHA work cooperatively with the GAO. It also complements the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics' (BLS) efforts to investigate factors accounting for differences between the number of workplace injuries and illnesses estimated by BLS and those estimated by other data sources. Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, OSHA's role is to promote safe and healthful working conditions for America's men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, outreach and education. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.