When Can The General Contractor Hold Your Money Hostage Over Disputes With The Owner?
As the party drafting the contract, and the party typically with the most leverage, the subcontracts drafted by a general contractor are one-sided affairs prepared to ensure that the subcontractor(s) bears all potential risks and liabilities. This often includes terms whereby compensation that should otherwise be owed by the general contractor to a subcontractor is withheld or denied because of disputes with the project owner.
New Laws For The Construction Industry
California’s legislators and governors were busy in 2016 adopting 900 new bills into law, many of which take effect on January 1, 2017. The new laws include many that relate directly to the construction industry. Other new laws, while not construction industry specific, will also greatly impact employers in the construction industry as California has adopted a significant number of new labor laws. For an article specifically on new labor laws adopted in 2016, see MMNT’s “New Employment Laws for 2017”.
MMNT Insurance Coverage Matter Heads To California Supreme Court
The California Supreme Court has accepted the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit’s certification of questions in Pitzer College v. Indian Harbor Insurance Company. This insurance coverage case was brought by MMNT on Pitzer College’s behalf in California state court and has now traveled through the United States District Court for the Central District of California and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit before finally arriving at the California Supreme Court.
New Laws Affecting California Employers
For California employers, January 1, 2017 marked the beginning of a five (or six) year upwards climb towards the new $15.00 state minimum wage.1 But that’s not all it marked. Of the 900 some new bills adopted into law over the 2016 year, many of them affect California employers and also went into effect on January 1st.