What is the Davis-Bacon Act?

The Davis- Bacon Act mandates the minimum wages for the construction workers (including laborers and mechanics) employed under a contract of over $2,000 and involved in constructing, repairing, or alteration of any public building or work. The Act is applicable to those contracts where the United States or the District of Columbia is a party. Here, the repairing and alteration include painting and decoration.

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What does The Davis-Bacon Act Require?

According to the Davis-Bacon Act, all the contractors and subcontractors engaged in such a contract must pay the various class of workers employed on the site of the work no less than the locally prevailing wage rates and fringe benefits for corresponding work on similar kind of projects. The Department of Labor determines the locally prevailing wage rates under the direction of the Davis-Bacon Act. The wage rates are registered for each country of every state. The wage rates of a particular project depending on its location and the type of construction. There are different rates for different types of construction such as building, residential, highway, and heavy construction projects. The most current revision of the rate at the time of bidding needs to be regarded. Although, if there is a revision withing 10 days before the bid opening and the agency feels there are no adequate time to notify the bidders, the revision can be ignored. In Addition to the main Act, Congress has added prevailing wage provisions to approximately 60 statutes, known as the related Acts. Under these provisions, federal agencies assist construction projects through loans, grants, loan guarantees, and insurance. The additional statutes involve constructions in transportation, housing, air and water pollution reduction, and health. Along with the Davis-Bacon Act, the contractors and subcontractors engaged in the contracts exceeding $100,000 must also follow the provision of the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act (amended). It mandates the employers to pay the laborers and mechanics including watchmen a higher rate for working over 40 hours a workweek. For each hour over 40, they are to get at least one and one-half times of their regular rate of pay. The overtime provision of the Fair Labor Standards Act may also be applied to such projects. The provisions of the Davis-Bacon Act are applied across the 50 States in the U.S and the District of Columbia. The scope of the related Acts is determined by the terms of the statute applicable to the project.

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