One time, I was hired to write a report on “prevailing wage.”
I looked it up, and what I found was amazing! The prevailing wage is the same all over the country. In California, it’s $51 an hour. In New York, it’s $61 an hour. In Florida, it’s $44 an hour. And in Alabama, it’s $18 an hour.
Here you’ve been building roads and bridges for four years; now you want to know if you’re being paid the prevailing wage? Do you know who pays for that? The taxpayer. But then I did some more digging and found something extraordinary: there is no such thing as a prevailing wage! There are only “prevailing wages,” many of which don’t mean what people think they do! Here are two stories about how things got messed up with prevailing wages. One is from Minnesota, and one is from Texas — but look at that: both states have almost identical prevailing wages for highway construction projects! So how can this be?
The first story goes back to 1933 when Congress wanted to see if government agencies were paying less than union rates for construction work on federal property (like airports). When the first investigation turned up nothing, Congress decided in 1934 that government agencies would have to pay union rates for all construction work of whatever kind except aircraft carriers (because labor costs were too high). And because most other construction costs were much lower than union rates, this meant that whenever a federal agency issued bids for road or bridge construction work, contractors would always get the job by offering prices under the minimum amount necessary to meet wage rate requirements established by law. This became known as “the Davis-Bacon Act,” named after Republican Senator Robert F. (“Bob”) Davis of West Virginia and Democrat Bazel E. Guyton of Georgia, who had introduced legislation creating minimum pay requirements in
Section: Prevailing wage ensures that union contracts get paid and that construction projects, like the rebuilding of Lower Manhattan after 9/11 and the expansion of the U.S. Capitol, get done on time and within budget.
Prevailing wage is a way of ensuring that union contracts get paid. It ensures that construction projects get done on time and on budget, which is why it’s essential to all parties involved.
Prevailing wages also helps prevent companies from skirting their responsibility and subcontracting work to cheaper alternatives, like immigrants or illegal laborers who may not be paid what they deserve by U.S. standards. If you have ever wondered why the price of housing tends to rise along with the cost of living in New York City, this could be part of why!
Prevailing wage applies only to contracts between two private parties, not federal agencies, cities, and towns that pay their workers.
Prevailing wage applies only to contracts between two private parties, not federal agencies, cities, and towns that pay their workers.
The basic idea behind prevailing wage is that if you’re paying a contractor on an award, you want them to be as competitively priced as possible. If there’s an open bid process, bidders can submit offers based on what they think the cost will be—and if they’re wrong (or just guessing), they’ll lose out on work. So it’s important for contractors who win those bids but don’t have union contracts or agreements with pre-approved contractors to know how much it costs them before signing up for jobs in New York State.*
The prevailing wage has a few exceptions.
The prevailing wage applies to all federal construction contracts. Still, it only applies to jobs that federal agencies have already negotiated with their construction vendors as part of standard contract language they’ve used for years. That includes projects where the job is being performed by a subsidiary of a contractor or subcontractor and not directly on behalf of the government entity.
It also doesn’t apply in cases where a project is being built above ground: If you’re digging foundations or pouring concrete walls, prevailing wage won’t apply unless there’s an underground component involved—and even then, only if the work was done by another entity and not directly within your company’s facilities (for example, if you’re using equipment that belongs to someone else but has been modified for use in yours).
The prevailing wage applies only to those contractors who have a union contract or an agreement with one of a smaller number of pre-approved contractors.
The prevailing wage applies only to those contractors who have a union contract or an agreement with one of a smaller number of pre-approved contractors.
The prevailing wage does not apply to federal agencies, cities, and towns that pay their workers.
The prevailing wage applies even if the hired worker is paid less than the minimum union rate.
The prevailing wage applies even if the hired worker is paid less than the minimum union rate. That’s because the prevailing wage ensures that contractors pay their workers a decent salary, regardless of whether they work for private companies or government entities.
If you’re working construction in New York City and your employer pays you less than $40 per hour, you are eligible for prevailing wages.
Prevailing wage only applies to jobs that federal agencies have already negotiated with their construction vendors as part of standard contract language they’ve used for years unless it’s been modified in some way since federal authorities signed the original contract.
They can set their rates if a federal or state prevailing wage law does not cover a contractor. This is true even if they have a union contract with their workers.
There are two exceptions:
The prevailing wage applies to private parties doing construction work for others.
When it comes to the prevailing wage, private parties who are doing construction work for others are subject to the rules. The prevailing wage applies to private parties doing construction work for others.
If you’re a contractor or subcontractor and your project involves public infrastructure projects, such as a road or bridge, you must pay workers at least what they would make if they worked in their home state. This is known as “prevailing wages.” Suppose your project doesn’t fall under any of these categories (like if it’s an apartment complex). In that case, there isn’t any legislation covering how much money should be paid out in terms of wages on those kinds of projects—and thus, no need for contractors/subcontractors to follow prevailing wage laws when bidding on these types of jobs.
Oops! Click Regenerate Content below to try generating this section again.
