The Davis-Bacon Act
40 U.S.C. 276a Rate of wages for laborers and mechanics
- (a) The advertised specifications for every contract in excess of $
2,000 to which the United States or the District of Columbia is a party, for
construction, alteration, and/or repair, including painting and decorating, of
public buildings or public works of the United States or the District of
Columbia within the geographical limits of the States of the Union or the
District of Columbia, and which requires or involves the employment of
mechanics and/or laborers shall contain a provision stating the minimum wages
to be paid various classes of laborers and mechanics which shall be based upon
the wages that will be determined by the Secretary of Labor to be prevailing
for the corresponding classes of laborers and mechanics employed on projects of
a character similar to the contract work in the city, town, village, or other
civil subdivision of the State in which the work is to be performed, or in the
District of Columbia if the work is to be performed there; and every contract
based upon these specifications shall contain a stipulation that the contractor
or his subcontractor shall pay all mechanics and laborers employed directly
upon the site of the work, unconditionally and not less often than once a week,
and without subsequent deduction or rebate on any account, the full amounts
accrued at time of payment, computed at wage rates not less than those stated
in the advertised specifications, regardless of any contractual relationship
which may be alleged to exist between the contractor or subcontractor and such
laborers and mechanics, and that the scale of wages to be paid shall be posted
by the contractor in a prominent and easily accessible place at the site of the
work; and the further stipulation that there may be withheld from the
contractor so much of accrued payments as may be considered necessary by the
contracting officer to pay to laborers and mechanics employed by the contractor
or any subcontractor on the work the difference between the rates of wages
required by the contract to be paid laborers and mechanics on the work and the
rates of wages received by such laborers and mechanics and not refunded to the
contractor, subcontractors, or their agents.
- (b) As used in this Act the term "wages", "scale of wages", "wage rates", "minimum wages", and "prevailing wages" shall include--
- (1) the basic hourly rate of pay; and
- (2) the amount of--
- (A) the rate of contribution irrevocably made by a contractor or subcontractor to a trustee or to a third person pursuant to a fund, plan, or program; and
- (B) the rate of costs to the contractor or subcontractor which may be reasonably anticipated in providing benefits to laborers and mechanics pursuant to an enforcible commitment to carry out a financially responsible plan or program which was communicated in writing to the laborers and mechanics affected, for medical or hospital care, pensions on retirement or death, compensation for injuries or illness resulting from occupational activity, or insurance to provide any of the foregoing, for unemployment benefits, life insurance, disability and sickness insurance, or accident insurance, for vacation and holiday pay, for defraying costs of apprenticeship or other similar programs, or for other bona fide fringe benefits, but only where the contractor or subcontractor is not required by other Federal, State, or local law to provide any of such benefits:
- Provided, That the obligation of a contractor or subcontractor to make payment in accordance with the prevailing wage determinations of the Secretary of Labor, insofar as this Act and other Acts incorporating this Act by reference are concerned may be discharged by the making of payments in cash, by the making of contributions of a type referred to in paragraph (2)(A), or by the assumption of an enforcible commitment to bear the costs of a plan or program of a type referred to in paragraph (2)(B), or any combination thereof, where the aggregate of any such payments, contributions, and costs is not less than the rate of pay described in paragraph (1) plus the amount referred to in paragraph (2).
- In determining the overtime pay to which the laborer or mechanic is entitled under any Federal law, his regular or basic hourly rate of pay (or other alternative rate upon which premium rate of overtime compensation is computed) shall be deemed to be the rate computed under paragraph (1), except that where the amount of payments, contributions, or costs incurred with respect to him exceeds the prevailing wage applicable to him under this Act, such regular or basic hourly rate of pay (or such other alternative rate) shall be arrived at by deducting from the amount of payments, contributions, or costs actually incurred with respect to him, the amount of contributions or costs of the types described in paragraph (2) actually incurred with respect to him, or the amount determined under paragraph (2) but not actually paid, whichever amount is the greater.