https://www.americancityandcounty.com/wp-content/themes/acc_child/assets/images/logo/footer-logo.png
  • Home
  • Co-op Solutions
  • Hybrid Work
  • Commentaries
  • News
  • In-Depth
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Podcast
    • Latest videos
    • Product Guides
  • Resources & Events
    • Back
    • Resources
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • IWCE 2022
    • How to Contribute
    • Municipal Cost Index – Archive
    • Equipment Watch Page
    • American City & County Awards
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Privacy Statement
    • Terms of Service
American City and County
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • Co-op Solutions
  • Hybrid Work
  • Commentaries
  • News
  • In-Depth
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Podcasts
    • Latest videos
    • Product Guides
  • Resources/Events
    • Back
    • Webinars
    • White Papers/eBooks
    • IWCE Expo
    • Calendar of Events
    • How to Contribute
    • American City & County Awards
    • Municipal Cost Index
    • Equipment Watch Page
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Privacy Stament
    • Terms of Service
  • newsletter
  • Administration
  • Economy & Finance
  • Procurement
  • Public Safety
  • Public Works & Utilities
  • Smart Cities & Technology
  • Magazine
acc.com

Commentaries


Commentary

Why local governments should embrace fair pay and safe workplace contractor policies

Why local governments should embrace fair pay and safe workplace contractor policies

Senior director of client success Mina Mina discusses why it's important for governments to embrace the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order and how to do so.
  • Written by American City & County Administrator
  • 7th December 2016

By Mina Mina

New government regulations are almost always met with various forms of resistance. The Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order from President Obama is no exception, as several lawsuits have been filed and Texas Judge Marcia A. Crone issued a nationwide preliminary injunction on October 25, 2016.

Concerns about federally mandated changes are understandable. Judge Crone outlined some of these concerns in her decision, stating in part that disqualifications to bid for federal government projects are based on “allegations of fault asserted by agency employees and do not constitute final agency findings of any violation at all.” The injunction temporarily blocks the implementation of most of the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces rule.

While this legal conflict is being sorted out, other government entities have an opportunity to consider the intent of the Executive Order and the possible positive outcomes that can come from it.

The Department of Labor (DOL) outlines the intent of the Executive Order by stating, “Taxpayer dollars should not reward companies that break the law and contractors who meet their legal responsibilities should not have to compete with those who do not.” It’s hard to argue with that. In fact, shouldn’t all government – federal, state, city, and county – strive for the same ideal? Supporting contractors that protect their workers’ safety and rights to fair pay is as simple as supporting businesses that follow the law.

Setting aside the legal discussions, let’s explore some of the reasons government from local to federal should embrace these changes. Here are three reasons why government of all sizes should adopt the rules and guidelines outlined in the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order:

 

Stop repeat offenders from winning repeat business

A recent Senate report found that 49 federal contractors were fined $196 million in penalties for safety and wage violations over six years. These very same contractors received $81 billion in federal contracts in 2012 alone. It’s time to stop enabling, and in some cases rewarding, businesses that take advantage of workers and put their safety at risk.

 

Reward contractors that value safety and follow the law

Once contractors meet a basic standard, many processes dictate that the lowest bid be awarded the business. This can create an advantage to those businesses that cut costs at the expense of worker safety and unfair wage practices. By raising these standards, our communities can reward contractors that value safety and abide by the law.

 

Make the standards reasonable for most contractors

The Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order targets only the most ‘egregious’ safety violations, including OSHA violations ranked as “serious” or “willful”, for example. Officials estimate that only about 10 percent of all federal contractors will have serious enough violations to be disqualified from the process of submitting a federal bid, meaning approximately 90 percent will not have problems.

While the Executive Order is facing some initial resistance, Avetta has seen policies that encourage safety and require contractors to abide by the law work effectively in the private sector. Stricter policies naturally weed out those contractors that repeatedly violate the law and put workers at risk by lowering safety standards. These policies have the potential to improve the overall quality of the contractor pool by up-leveling safety standards and reducing the pressure to cut corners to lower costs. Holding contractors to higher standards makes sense at every level of government, as the workers that will be protected are often our own neighbors.

 

Mina Mina is the senior director of client success at cloud platform company Avetta. He has over 15 years of dedicated health & safety professional experience.

Tags: Administration Commentaries Commentary

Most Recent


  • crisis
    Navigating crises with confidence: Five ways strategic plans support crisis response
    Some crises are short-lived, barging through our lives and routines, and before we can get a sense of what’s happened, we’re left dealing with the aftermath. But many crises build slowly, with many early warning signs, and once they’vehit their breaking point, panic and uncertainty overwhelm the ability of leaders to think clearly and mitigate […]
  • 2022 Crown Communities Award winner: Miami-Dade County Clerk of Courts' jury selection system
    The Miami-Dade County Clerk of Courts is revolutionizing the jury selection process.  In many jurisdictions, jury duty is perceived as an obligatory nuisance. On their appointed day, potential jurors arrive early and stay late. They read books or watch television to pass the time as judges and attorneys make in-person selections from the pool of […]
  • digital
    How to leverage digital tools to drive innovation in government
    The rapid evolution of digital technologies transformed the way governments function, making them more efficient, transparent and citizen-friendly. Rather than relying on crystal trophies, governments can leverage digital tools to drive innovation and streamline processes, benefiting the population they serve. Open data and crowdsourcing Open data refers to making government data available to the public, […]
  • last-mile
    How green last-mile infrastructure benefits your community
    Overseeing transportation is one of the most important jobs of municipal leaders as it underpins a wide range of aspects within a municipality, including its economy, community connectedness and the health of the local environment. One of the most deceptively challenging elements of effectively overseeing transportation is the development of last-mile transit infrastructure. That is, […]

Related Content

  • Lessons from your friendly neighborhood public service employees
  • Harris County deploys next-generation security in 150 public buildings
  • How local governments can get ahead of the infrastructure wave: Strategies to mitigate risk
  • Prioritizing rapid restore leads to stronger ransomware attack recovery

WHITE PAPERS


5 reasons why Plan Examiners need Objective Trapeze

30th May 2023

7 Permitting & Licensing Fails Slowing Community Growth

24th May 2023

The Secret Ingredient to Local Government Employee Retention

23rd May 2023
view all

Webinars


How to Centralize and Build a Grants Management Process at your Organization

24th May 2023

Making Permitting Easier: What We’ve Learned Helping America’s Largest Cities Improve Their Permitting Process

16th May 2023

Digital Property Tax Collection: Tales from the Trenches of Modernization

16th May 2023
view all

Podcast


Young Leaders Episode 4 – Cyril Jefferson – City Councilman, High Point, North Carolina

13th October 2020

Young Leaders Episode 3 – Shannon Hardin – City Council President, Columbus, Ohio

27th July 2020

Young Leaders Episode 2 – Christian Williams – Development Services Planner, Goodyear, Ariz.

1st July 2020
view all

GALLERIES


Gallery: Annual index ranks America’s top performing cities; most are in the West

30th May 2023

Gallery: Top 10 American cities for seasonal and summer jobs

25th May 2023

Gallery: 10 of America’s most affordable cities

9th May 2023
view all

Twitter


AmerCityCounty

Digital government comes with massive benefits — and new considerations, from accessibility to security to customer… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

31st May 2023
AmerCityCounty

5 reasons why Plan Examiners need Objective Trapeze dlvr.it/Sptl5z

30th May 2023
AmerCityCounty

Navigating crises with confidence: Five ways strategic plans support crisis response dlvr.it/SptVKN

30th May 2023
AmerCityCounty

Gallery: Annual index ranks America’s top performing cities; most are in the West dlvr.it/SpszdK

30th May 2023
AmerCityCounty

2022 Crown Communities Award winner: Miami-Dade County Clerk of Courts’ jury selection system dlvr.it/SphCBk

26th May 2023
AmerCityCounty

Gallery: Top 10 American cities for seasonal and summer jobs dlvr.it/SpdFWy

25th May 2023
AmerCityCounty

How to leverage digital tools to drive innovation in government dlvr.it/Spcktb

25th May 2023
AmerCityCounty

With many cities facing a fiscal cliff as ARPA funding ends, debt ceiling debate continues on Capitol Hill dlvr.it/SpZLph

24th May 2023

Newsletters

Sign up for American City & County’s newsletters to receive regular news and information updates about local governments.

Resale Insights Dashboard

The Resale Insights Dashboard provides model-level data for the entire used equipment market to help you save time and money.

Municipal Cost Index

Updated monthly since 1978, our exclusive Municipal Cost Index shows the effects of inflation on the cost of providing municipal services

Media Kit and Advertising

Want to reach our digital audience? Learn more here.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • IWCE’s Urgent Communications
  • IWCE Expo

WORKING WITH US

  • About Us
  • Contact Us

FOLLOW American City and County ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2023 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.