(1) Upon receipt of a complaint from an employee, a former employee, or a contracting agency derived from an analysis of certified payroll records, a contracting agency of government shall report any perceived violation of this part 2 to the contractor within forty-eight hours of being made aware of the perceived violation. In connection with the perceived violation:
The contracting agency of government shall allow the contractor to cure the perceived violation within fifteen calendar days if the contractor can demonstrate the instance in question was the result of legitimate administrative error.
If the contractor does not remedy the perceived violation within fifteen calendar daysor if the contracting agency determines that the perceived violation was willful, the contracting agency shall report the perceived violation to the department of labor and employment for investigation.
(2) (a) The department of labor and employment shall investigate all complaints referred to the department by the contracting agency of government to determine if the perceived violation was conducted in a willful manner.
(b) For the purposes of this section, "willful violation" includes intentional violations and those violations made with reckless disregard or deliberate ignorance of the law.
(3) If the department of labor and employment determines that a willful violation occurred, it shall require restitution of applicable back pay for the impacted employees and shall subject the contractor to the following fines:
Five thousand dollars for the first violation;
Ten thousand dollars for the second violation; and
Twenty-five thousand dollars for the third and all subsequent violations.
At the discretion of the director, the contractor may be debarred if they have beenfound to have three or more willful violations in any five year period. The term of debarment will be three years.
The department of labor and employment shall maintain a list of contractors whohave been found to have willfully violated this act, including details of the violation, on a publicly available website.
If a contracting agency of government or the department of labor and employmentfails to resolve an actionable wage claim within one hundred twenty days from the date of the initial determination by the department that a willful violation occurred, the employee shall have the right to file a private lawsuit pursuant to section 24-92-210.
The department of labor and employment shall promulgate rules in accordance witharticle 4 of this title 24 as may be necessary to administer and enforce any requirement of this part 2. Such rules shall include a reasonable administrative appeal process for determinations made pursuant to this section and an administrative process for an employee or former employee of a contractor or subcontractor to file a complaint for a violation of this part 2.
Source: L. 2019: Entire part added, (SB 19-196), ch. 316, p. 2954, § 2, effective August 2.