NECA News – Page 5 – NorCal NECA

NorCal NECA Sporting Clay Classic

Don’t forget to register for NorCal NECA’s annual Sporting Clay Classic benefiting the NorCal NECA PAC FPPC #960734. Registration is on a first come, first served basis.

Date: Friday, November 12, 2021
Location: Birds Landing Hunting Preserve

For more information on the event and sponsorship available, please click here.

Congratulations to Graduating Apprentices

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic, the Solano/Napa Counties Apprenticeship made the tough decision to cancel their 2021 Apprentice Graduation Ceremony. Congratulations to each of the 2021 Solano/Napa JATC Graduates, and a special congratulations to Max Ripley who was selected as the 2021 Outstanding Apprentice of the Year. Mr. Ripley was awarded a $1,000 check from the Electrical Contractors Trust of Solano/Napa Counties.

The 2021 Inside Graduates are listed A-Z: Tre’Lucien Changeux, Joseph R. Chapin, Ghalee A. Grimes, Joel Hernandez, Tyler Needler, Caleb Ripley, Max Ripley, Jesus Segura and Eric Stobel.

Education Series for Small to Medium-Sized Contractors

To provide more resources for small and medium contractors, NECA has developed the Electrical Contractor Essentials course series. They are kicking off the program with a one-day virtual class, Electrical Contractor Essentials: Finance, Insurance and Legal. This class was designed specifically for NECA’s small and medium-sized contractors and will bring in experts to discuss the essential elements of finance, insurance and risk, and legal issues that all contractors need to know.

The class will take place on June 10, 2021, from 7:00 AM – 2:00 PM PST. The registration fee for NECA Members is $99 and participating attendees of this program will receive a $99 credit for the NECA 2021 Convention in Nashville.

Click here to register.

ELECTRI International Releases New Research Report

The electrical power industry is the backbone of America’s economic sector, supporting more than seven million American jobs. Considering how essential electricians are to society, it is not surprising that electricians’ employment from 2019-2029 is projected to have an eight percent growth rate, much faster than the average for all occupations.

However, it is widely recognized that the workforce shortage has been steadily increasing in the last few years and electricians are one of the top five most challenging craft positions to fill. Targeting young students and women represents one solid solution to the huge workforce shortage problem facing the industry. Researchers have suggested supplementing conventional recruiting and development methods with approaches that place more emphasis on creating active experiences that embrace state-of-the-art technologies.

This ELECTRI International study is the first effort to use immersive storytelling to attract candidates to the electrical trades using the virtual environment of real jobsites. This project introduces the Virtual Reality Electrician, a 360-degree immersive environment powered by virtual electricians to tell success stories of electrical trades and attract young students and women to join the industry.

Contact the Chapter office to receive a copy of this report.

Renewal Registration for Public Works Contractors

As a reminder, public works contractors who are registered with the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) for the fiscal year (ending June 30, 2021) may now renew their registration(s) for the next fiscal year (starting July 1, 2021) using DIR’s online public works contractor registration system. Registered contractors who fail to renew by July 1st, but continue working on public works after that date will be subject to late fees and potential penalties.

Contractors must be registered with the DIR before bidding, being awarded, or performing work on public works projects in California.

Using the online system, public works contractors can:

Register for the first time
Renew an active registration
Reactivate a prior registration
Securely pay the non-refundable $300 registration/renewal fee (and penalties if applicable)

Contractor registration is active when the online registration form is complete, and the $400 registration/renewal fee is processed. Registration is processed within 24 hours, if paying by credit card. Note, public works contractors are now able to register for one, two or three fiscal years for a fee of $400, $800 or $1,200, respectively.

Early renewal is only available for public works contractors who are currently registered with DIR. Any contractor who fails to register before bidding or being awarded a public works project may be subject to a $2,000 penalty.

Updated Cost Data Sheets

Effective June 1, 2021, the following increases will go into effect. Please be sure to download the updated cost data sheets from the “Agreements” section of the NorCal NECA Website.

Alameda County, IBEW Local 595W (both inside and maintenance agreements)
Mariposa/Merced/Stanislaus/Tuolumne Counties, IBEW Local 684
San Joaquin and Calaveras Counties, IBEW Local 595E
Solano and Napa Counties, IBEW Local 180
Bay Area CE/CW MAI-MOU

OSHA Releases COVID-19 National Emphasis Program

On March 12, 2021, OSHA released a much-anticipated response to protect workers from COVID-19 as directed by President Biden’s Executive Order on protecting worker health and safety. A COVID-19 National Emphasis Program (NEP) has been developed, focusing on companies with the largest percentage of workers exposed to serious risk, in addition to prioritizing employers that retaliate against workers who file complaints or exercise their rights as protected by federal law and regulations.

The new NEP, while highlighting many General Industry examples and exposures, provides guidance in inspection procedures that will be initiated immediately as of the effective date with targeted inspections beginning two weeks later. Construction is listed in the secondary targeted industries for this COVID-19 NEP under “Appendix B, Table 1 – Supplemental Industries for Non-Healthcare in Essential Infrastructure” of the document. View the program directive by clicking here.

IRS Provides Guidance for Employers

On March 1, 2021, the IRS issued guidance for employers claiming the employee retention credit under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), as modified by the Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2020 (Relief Act), for calendar quarters in 2020. The guidance in Notice 2021-20 is similar to the information in the employee retention credit FAQs, but includes clarifications and describes retroactive changes under the new law applicable to 2020, primarily relating to expanded eligibility for the credit.

For 2020, the employee retention credit can be claimed by employers who paid qualified wages after March 12, 2020, and before January 1, 2021, and who experienced a full or partial suspension of their operations or a significant decline in gross receipts. The credit is equal to 50 percent of qualified wages paid, including qualified health plan expenses, for up to $10,000 per employee in 2020. The maximum credit available for each employee is $5,000 in 2020.

A significant change for 2020 made by the Relief Act permits eligible employers that received a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan to claim the employee retention credit, although the same wages cannot be counted both for seeking forgiveness of the PPP loan and calculating the employee retention credit. Notice 2021-20 explains when and how employers that received a PPP loan can claim the employee retention credit for 2020.

Notice 2021-20 also provides answers to questions such as: who are eligible employers; what constitutes full or partial suspension of trade or business operations; what is a significant decline in gross receipts; how much is the maximum amount of an eligible employer’s employee retention credit; what are qualified wages; how does an eligible employer claim the employee retention credit; and how does an eligible employer substantiate the claim for the credit.

While the Relief Act also extended and modified the employee retention credit for the first two calendar quarters in 2021, Notice 2021-20 addresses only the rules applicable to 2020. The IRS plans to release additional guidance soon addressing the changes for 2021. A page on www.irs.gov is devoted to providing information to businesses on all aspects of the CARES Act.

Taken from IRS Newswire Dated March 1, 2021

New Guidance on Protecting Workers

On Friday, January 29, 2021, OSHA released a press notice on new guidance related to protecting workers and mitigating the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace. This guidance is in response to the Presidential Executive Order issued by President Joe Biden to address worker health and safety related to the Coronavirus and COVID-19.

To answer this executive order, OSHA has reiterated that Face Coverings and Employer developed COVID-19 Prevention Programs are key in addressing the current pandemic facing the nation. The new guidance does include references to existing health and safety standards and how those regulations can provide guidance to employers.

Read the full NECA Legal Alert by clicking here.

ELECTRI International Releases New Research Report

Prefabrication is any activity or work moved away from the final point of installation to be performed in a controlled, hence safer, and more productive off-site environment. Pre-fab reduces the number of manipulations for final completion and installation on-site. Yet, today, fewer than 5% of electrical construction companies are using prefabrication.

Contractors need a practical way to track and quantify the benefits of prefabrication. Business owners, estimators and project managers need both confidence and knowledge about the cost-saving potentials of prefab so they can account for prefabrication when bidding potential work.

ELECTRI International commissioned MCA, Inc. to conduct a deep-dive study of prefabrication to help the EC Industry focus on risk mitigation, higher predictability of cost, quality of work, and profits. In addition to specific recommendations, the researchers produced an excel-based prefabrication calculator to help contractors translate the total savings into an equivalent composite rate as a practical method for “pricing” estimates with prefabrication. Click here to download a copy of the report.