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Workers who perform construction work on the project are to be paid the appropriate prevailing wage rate. This includes carpenters, painters, roofers, plumbers, etc. this includes, apprentices, as well as a working foreman. Prevailing wage does not include clerical or administrative support working in a job-site trailer or a “walking supervisor”. A “walking supervisor” is someone who does not generally work with the tools, but supervises the work to be done, conducts and attends job related meetings, does scheduling, deals with suppliers, etc. A walking supervisor is almost always an “exempt employee” within the meaning of the Fair Labor Standard Act. (FLSA). In 2008, new regulations were implemented which exempt all time worked by Section 541 workers on Davis-Bacon projects. Therefore, there is no requirement to pay Davis-Bacon wages to any exempt salaried individual working on the project. The assumption is that an exempt employee is receiving sufficient compensation over and above the Davis Bacon rate.

he Davis-Bacon Field Operation Handbook states:

• Time spent by employees engaged in transporting materials/supplies to and from the site is not covered work.
• Time spent on the site loading or unloading materials/supplies is covered.
• Time spent driving on the site is covered
• Time spent hauling on a dedicated facility and between a dedicated facility and the site is covered.
• Time spent driving between two or more unrelated sites is not covered
• Time spent by such employees performing any other activity on the site as a laborer or mechanic is covered.
• Bona fide owner operators of trucks who are independent contractors are not subject to Davis-Bacon wages. However, owner-operators of drilling, earthmoving and similar types of construction equipment are covered.
• Materialmen or suppliers who merely deliver materials to the jobsite are not covered.

The information above is brought to you by: Deborah Wilder’s “What Every Contractor Should Know About Prevailing Wages”