Contractors Beware: Recent Regulatory Enactments Require Additional Compliance

I. Introduction

Before the conclusion of last year, two laws were enacted that profoundly impact the construction industry in general, and contractors involved in public contracts, in particular. The first item, the Construction Industry Independent Contractor Act, P.L. 2007, c. 114 (the "Act") was adopted by the New Jersey Legislature and establishes in the state of New Jersey criminal penalties and debarment for misclassifying a worker as an independent contractor rather than an employee and creates a presumption that workers are employees. The other regulation, amendments to Parts 2, 3 and 52 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation, 72 Fed. Reg. 65873, requires that any federal contract having a value of $5,000,000 or more and performance period of 120 days or more, contain the newly issued Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) ethics clauses.