As used in this part 2, unless the context otherwise requires:
(1) Agency of government means any agency, department, division, board, bureau, commission, institution, or section of the state which is a budgetary unit exercising construction contracting authority or discretion. Agency of government does not include any county, city and county, city, municipality, town, school district, special district, or any other political subdivision of the state.
(2) Contractor means any person having a contract for a public project with an agency of government.
(3) Director means the director of the department of personnel.
(4) Employees means workers who are employees pursuant to section 8-4-101 (5), and who are engaged by contractors or subcontractors to perform jobs on various types of public projects including mechanics, laborers, and other construction workers.
(5) Public project means any construction, alteration, repair, demolition, or improvement of any land, building, structure, facility, road, highway, bridge, or other public improvement suitable for and intended for use in the promotion of public health, welfare, or safety and any operation or maintenance programs for the operation and upkeep of such projects. Public project includes any work, construction, or repair performed by a private party through a contract to rent, lease, or purchase at least fifty percent of the project by one or more agencies of government.
(6) Wages, scale of wages, wage rates, minimum wages, and prevailing wages means:
(a) The basic hourly rate of pay; and
(b) 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 forgoing, for unemployment benefits, life insurance, disability and sickness insurance, or accident insurance, for vacation and holiday pay, for defraying the 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 those benefits, the amount of:
(I) The rate of contribution irrevocably made by a contractor or subcontractor to a trustee or to a third person under a fund, plan, or program; and
(II) The rate of costs to the contractor or subcontractor that may be reasonably anticipated in providing benefits to employees pursuant to an enforceable commitment to carry out a financially responsible plan or program which was communicated in writing to the employees affected.
Source: L. 2019: Entire part added, (SB 19-196), ch. 316, p. 2949, � 2, effective August 2.
24-92-202. Contractors subject to provisions - weekly payment of employees - rules. (1) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (2) of this section, any contractor who is awarded a contract for a public project by an agency of government in the amount of five hundred thousand dollars or more, and any subcontractors working on the public project, shall pay their employees at weekly intervals and shall comply with the enforcement provisions established in section 24-92-209. This part 2 applies to a contract for a public project awarded pursuant to part 1 of this article 92 and to an integrated project delivery contract for a public project awarded pursuant to article 93 of this title 24. This part 2 does not apply to contracts for public projects that receive federal funding.
(2) This part 2 does not apply to the department of transportation, regardless of the amount or funding source of the public project; except that a contractor performing work on a public project for the department of transportation is required to pay employees performing work on any public project, regardless of the amount or funding source of the public project, in accordance with the wage requirements of the federal Davis-Bacon Act, 40 U.S.C. sec. 3141 et seq., and related federal acts. Any work performed on a public project under the supervision of the department of transportation that is electrical work, as defined in section 12-115-103 (5), must utilize licensed journeymen electricians, as defined in section 12-115-103 (6), licensed master electricians, as defined in section 12-115-103 (7), or registered and properly supervised apprentices, as defined in section 12-115-103 (1), regardless of whether the work is performed by department of transportation employees or performed by a contractor on behalf of the department of transportation.
(3) The director may promulgate rules in accordance with article 4 of this title 24 as may be necessary to administer and enforce any requirement of this part 2.
Source: L. 2019: Entire part added, (SB 19-196), ch. 316, p. 2950, � 2, effective August 2. L. 2021: (2) amended, (HB 21-1056), ch. 181, p. 978, � 4, effective September 7.
24-92-203. Prevailing rate of wages and other payments - specifications in solicitations and contract. (1) For solicitations issued for public projects on or after January 1, 2022, before awarding any contract for a public project in the amount of five hundred thousand dollars or more, an agency of government shall obtain from the director the general prevailing rate, as determined by the director pursuant to section 24-92-205, of the regular, holiday, and overtime wages paid and the general prevailing payments on behalf of employees to lawful welfare, pension, vacation, apprentice training, and educational funds in the state, for each employee needed to execute the contract for the public project. Payments to the funds must constitute an ordinary business expense deduction for federal income tax purposes by contractors and subcontractors.
(1.5) Repealed.
(2) An agency of government shall specify in the competitive solicitation for a public project in the amount of five hundred thousand dollars or more and in the contract for such public project, the general prevailing rate of the regular, holiday, and overtime wages paid and the payments on behalf of employees to the welfare, pension, vacation, apprentice training, and education funds existing in the geographic locality for each employee needed to execute the contract or work.
(3) The general prevailing rate of the regular, holiday, and overtime wages paid and the payments on behalf of employees to the welfare, pension, vacation, apprentice training, and education funds specified in the competitive solicitation and in the contract for a public project pursuant to subsection (2) of this section shall remain the same for the duration of the work on the public project.
(4) Contracting agencies of government shall not artificially divide public projects to avoid compliance with the requirements of this part 2.
Source: L. 2019: Entire part added, (SB 19-196), ch. 316, p. 2950, � 2, effective August 2. L. 2021: (1) amended and (1.5) added, (HB 21-1319), ch. 305, p. 1830, � 1, effective June 23.
Editor's note: Subsection (1.5)(b) provided for the repeal of subsection (1.5), effective June 30, 2025. (See L. 2021, p. 1830.)
24-92-204. Specification in contract - payment of wages - amount and frequency - unclaimed prevailing wages special trust fund - creation. (1) Every contract for a public project subject to the provisions of this part 2 shall contain a stipulation that:
(a) The contractor and any subcontractors shall pay all the employees employed directly on 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 competitive solicitation, regardless of any contractual relationships that may be alleged to exist between the contractor or subcontractor and the employees;
(b) The contractor and any subcontractors shall prepare and submit payroll reports to the contracting agency of government on a monthly basis that disclose all relevant payroll information, including the name and address of any entities to which fringe benefits are paid, and that the contracting agency of government is required to review the certified payroll reports in a timely manner as required by the state contract;
(c) The contractor and any subcontractors shall maintain on the site where public projects are being constructed a daily log of employees employed each day on the public project. The log shall include, at a minimum, for each employee his or her name, primary job title, and employer, and shall be kept on a form prescribed by the director. The log shall be available for inspection on the site at all times by the contracting agency of government and the director.
(d) If the contractor or any subcontractor fails to pay wages as are required by the contract, the contracting agency of government shall not approve a warrant or demand for payment to the contractor until the contractor furnishes the contracting agency of government evidence satisfactory to such agency of government that such wages so required by the contract have been paid; except that the contracting agency of government shall approve and pay any portion of a warrant or demand for payment to the contractor to the extent the agency of government has been furnished evidence satisfactory to the agency of government that the contractor or one or more subcontractors has paid such wages required by the contract, even if the contractor has not furnished evidence that all of the subcontractors have paid wages as required by the contract. Any contractor or subcontractor may use the following procedure in order to satisfy the requirements of this section:
(I) The contractor or subcontractor may submit to the director, for each employee to whom such wages are due, a check as required by the director. Such check shall be payable to that employee or to the state so it is negotiable by either of those parties. Each such check shall be in an amount representing the difference between the accrued wages required to be paid to that employee by the contract and the wages actually paid by the contractor or subcontractor.
(II) If any check submitted pursuant this subsection (1)(d) cannot be delivered to the employee within a reasonable period as determined by the director, then it shall be negotiated by the state and the proceeds deposited in the unclaimed property trust fund created in section 38-13-116.6. Nothing in this subsection (1) shall be construed to lessen the responsibility of the contractor or subcontractor to attempt to locate and pay any employee to whom wages are due.
Source: L. 2019: Entire part added, (SB 19-196), ch. 316, p. 2951, � 2, effective August 2.
24-92-205. Investigation and determination of prevailing wages - filing of schedule - repeal. (1) In determining the applicable prevailing wage for public projects pursuant to section 24-92-204, the director shall use appropriate wage determinations issued by the United States department of labor in accordance with the Davis-Bacon Act, 40 U.S.C. sec. 3141, et seq., to establish the prevailing wage rates for the applicable trades or occupation for the geographic locality of the public project. Beginning on January 1, 2022, the director shall keep a schedule on file in his or her office of the customary prevailing rate of wages and payments made to or on behalf of the employees, which shall be open to public inspection.
(1.5) (a) For solicitations issued for public projects on or after July 1, 2021, but prior to January 1, 2022, the agency of government shall keep a schedule on file for the life of the project of the customary prevailing rate of wages and payments made to or on behalf of the employees, which shall be open to public inspection.
(b) The director shall notify the revisor of statutes in writing of the date when all the public projects covered by subsection (1.5)(a) of this section have been completed by emailing the notice to revisorofstatutes.ga@coleg.gov. This subsection (1.5) is repealed effective upon the date identified in the notice or, if the notice does not specify that date, upon the date of the notice to the revisor of statutes.
(2) The director shall update the applicable prevailing wage for public projects as determined pursuant to subsection (1) of this section on or before July 1, 2022, and on or before July 1 each year thereafter.
Source: L. 2019: Entire part added, (SB 19-196), ch. 316, p. 2952, � 2, effective August 2. L. 2021: (1) amended and (1.5) added, (HB 21-1319), ch. 305, p. 1831, � 2, effective June 23.