All prevailing wage rates in California are established by craft classification (i.e. Laborer, Carpenter, Plumber, etc.). Workers are paid based on the type of work they perform, not necessarily by the classification into which they were originally hired. For union signatory contractors, this is generally easier as union contracts also restrict the type of work a specific worker […]
Tag Archives: California Department of Industrial Relations
California Prevailing Wage Law: How Prevailing Wages Determined
California uses a modal rate system to determine the prevailing wage rate. While the DIR from time to time does conduct wage surveys, most of the prevailing wage determinations are taken from the collective bargaining agreement and are the union rate. The modal rate means that the State adopts the single rate which is paid most often […]
California Prevailing Wage Law: Proper Determination Tied to Bid Advertisement Date
Prevailing wages are determined by the Director of the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) and are issued twice a year in February and August. These wage rates create a “minimum wage” rate for workers employed on public works projects. The wage rates are adopted by using a modal rate, which means the rate most frequently […]
California Apprenticeship Programs
Apprenticeships, although equating to only 3% of total construction industry employment, are key to sustaining the workforce that builds California’s public works projects. They allow aspiring construction workers the opportunity to earn good wages with health insurance and retirement benefits as they learn to build the infrastructure upon which California depends. Recently, data from the […]
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 […]