Increasingly prime contractors are finding themselves in hot water with the Department of Labor for their subcontractors’ behavior. Recently, Lettire Construction Corp and 16 of its subcontractors were found to have violated provisions of the federal Davis-Bacon and Related Acts as well as the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act. The filing upholds the […]
Category Archives: Davis-Bacon/Prevailing Wage Discussion
California Supreme Court Changes Prevailing Wage Rule for Charter Cities
Vista, Oceanside, San Marcos, Carlsbad and more than 100 other California charter cities don’t have to pay union-like wages on construction projects funded by local tax dollars, the state Supreme Court ruled Monday. Vista claims to have saved an estimated $2 million on labor by paying less than “prevailing rates” when it spent $100 million on a […]
Federal Davis-Bacon Requirements: Mixed Funding Projects
A pure Davis-Bacon project is easy to spot because the main contract is between the prime contractor and the U.S. Department of XXXX. The work is performed on a military base (Department of Defense), for a federal penitentiary or courthouse (Department of Justice), the U.S. Post Office, or The Army Corp of Engineers, etc. Prevailing wage gets […]
Federal Davis-Bacon Requirements: Withholding and Debarment
A prime contractor is ALWAYS the guarantor of prevailing wages due to a worker on a project. That means if your subcontractor goes out of business, leaves the country or just flat does not pay his/her workers the correct prevailing wage rate, the prime contractor will be responsible to see that those wages are paid. Whether or […]
Federal Davis-Bacon Requirements: Statute of Limitations & Burden of Proof
The time period when a claim can be made against a contractor for unpaid wages is generally 2 years, 3 years if the violation is found to be willful. It is recommended that contractors keep all certified payrolls and related documents for at least three years from the completion of the project. In any investigation relating to […]
Federal Davis-Bacon Requirements: Trainees & Helpers
Unless the specific Davis-Bacon wage classification recognizes a Trainee or Helper as one of the specified classifications, then a contractor may not pay workers less than the specified prevailing wage rate for the classification of worker. Persons registered and receiving on-the-job training in a construction occupation under a program that has been approved in advance by DOL’s Employment […]
Federal Davis-Bacon Requirements: Apprentices
A contractor may employ apprentices and pay the applicable apprenticeship rate only for those individuals who are properly enrolled in a Bureau of Apprenticeship Training (BAT) program. The BAT may have agreements with various state apprenticeship agencies so that many (but not all) apprenticeship programs have both BAT and local state approval. Only those workers […]
“The Perfect Storm”
“The Perfect Storm” How SBX2-9 Will Drastically Harm the ConstructionIndustry in California “The Perfect Storm” How SBX2-9 Will Drastically Harm the construction industry in California. The currently written legislation and regulations for SBX2-9 will most certainly negatively affect Construction, Jobs and hurt the economy. Although SBX2-9 was written with good intention, it fails in the details […]
Federal Davis-Bacon Requirements: Certified Payroll
Certified Payroll is the documentation a contractor is required to keep on a weekly basis and submit to the awarding body. These documents are signed under penalty of perjury and detail the workers, classification, hours worked and rate of pay on the public works project. The typical form used for this purpose is WH-357. A […]
Federal Davis-Bacon Requirements: Health Benefits
It is important to understand that the payment of benefits from Davis-Bacon wages may not pay for benefits covering non Davis-Bacon hours. One cannot use Davis Bacon the “fringe benefit” amount set forth in the Davis Bacon wage determination to pay for an employee’s entire month of healthcare, when the employee also works on many non-prevailing wage projects. […]