Schedules can Interrupt the Workforce
Prevailing wage contractors often are challenged with managing a workforce that experiences interrupted work schedules. Some trades experience this more often including heavy highway, roofing, utility, masonry, excavators, boring and many more contractor specialties.
The work is often interrupted by project delays that range from occasional short work weeks to cold and rain seasons that require extended month-long layoffs.
How a contractor manages these off times can make and break the success of projects, long term company success, as well as contributing to compliance issues with labor laws and local job market issues.
Many times keeping benefits available to this workforce is also critical to keeping them available for when the work load requires them to be working again. There are several very good resources that a contractor can use that will keep him successful, cost efficient and in compliance.
- Hour Banking;
Hour banking is an accounting method for government contractors doing public project work be it state, municipal or federal contract work. This allows the contractor to bank fringe dollars during busy times of the work season and use these fringes to pay for the employees benefits during seasonal slow downs, layoffs, or short weeks. The hour bank method also allows the contractor to more accurately take proper credit for fringes and insure he is not overpaying or underpaying his share of these benefits.
- The Sub Plan;
Sub plan is a bona fide benefit that is funded with fringe dollars and can be drawn on when the employee has less than full time hours in a given week or during long layoff periods. It can be referred to as a money now plan due to its easy accessibility during the work year especially in construction field where unemployment is the most common occurrence.
- The HRA MasterCard;
This plan is also funded with prevailing wage fringe dollars and can be used for many medical, dental, vision, commuter qualified expenses. But it can also be used to pay for medical insurance premiums while the laborer is on cobra.
Based on the unique structure of the contractor and its workforce, a program can be customized with one or a combination of these plans that will help the contractor operate more cost efficiently, and in strict compliance with all prevailing wage laws. These plans tend to be the plans with the most employee appreciation due to the nature of payout of money when it is needed most!
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