Legislature is in full swing despite pandemic

Boston, MA Since around early April, 209 bills were filed in the Legislature addressing the myriad of issues related to the pandemic. As you would expect, many bills deal with unemployment programs, workers compensation, workplace safety, employer liability, and relief bills for families, employers, and municipalities. Certainly not all these bills will be signed into law and we must acknowledge that not all issues can be fixed by legislation. The pandemic has certainly impacted the way work will be performed moving forward, but it also creates some uncertainty about the added costs that arise from the circumstances in which we find ourselves. Work delays, increased costs, and productivity losses are part of our new normal. But how do these costs get covered? In many cases, it is the subcontractor who is providing the bulk of the labor, material, and supplies for a job. When a job shuts down or slows down, those costs only increase. It will take teamwork and collaboration among all parties to get through this pandemic and to ensure that contractors, owners, and industry partners can emerge intact.