§3142 — Title 40 Public Buildings, Property, and Works | U.S. Code

Summary

Advertised specifications for federal or District of Columbia construction, alteration, or repair contracts over $2,000 that use mechanics or laborers must list the minimum wages for the different kinds of workers. The Secretary of Labor decides what the prevailing wages are for similar jobs in the local area, and those wages are the ones to use. Contracts must require that workers on the job site be paid the full amounts earned at least once a week, with no unlawful deductions, and at no less than the posted rates. The contractor must post the wage schedule where workers can see it. The government can hold back payments if it thinks workers were not paid the required wages so it can pay them the difference. A contractor can meet the wage rule by paying cash, by making approved contributions to benefit plans, by promising to pay plan costs, or by any mix of these, so long as the total equals at least the basic hourly rate plus the fringe amount set under section 3141(2)(B). For overtime rules, the regular hourly rate is figured under section 3141(2)(A), except when benefit payments made for a worker are higher than the prevailing wage; then the regular rate is adjusted by subtracting the larger of the actual benefit payments or the amount set under section 3141(2)(B).

Title 40, §3142

Public Buildings, Property, and Works — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The advertised specifications for every contract in excess of $2,000, to which the Federal Government or the District of Columbia is a party, for construction, alteration, or repair, including painting and decorating, of public buildings and public works of the Government or the District of Columbia that are located in a State or the District of Columbia and which requires or involves the employment of mechanics or laborers shall contain a provision stating the minimum wages to be paid various classes of laborers and mechanics.

(b)The minimum wages shall be based on the wages the Secretary of Labor determines to be prevailing for the corresponding classes of laborers and mechanics employed on projects of a character similar to the contract work in the 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.

(c)Every contract based upon the specifications referred to in subsection (a) must contain stipulations that—

(1)the contractor or subcontractor shall pay all mechanics and laborers employed directly on the site of the work, unconditionally and at least 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 the laborers and mechanics;

(2)the contractor will post the scale of wages to be paid in a prominent and easily accessible place at the site of the work; and

(3)there may be withheld from the contractor so much of accrued payments as the contracting officer considers necessary 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 the laborers and mechanics and not refunded to the contractor or subcontractors or their agents.

(d)The obligation of a contractor or subcontractor to make payment in accordance with the prevailing wage determinations of the Secretary of Labor, under this subchapter and other laws incorporating this subchapter by reference, may be discharged by making payments in cash, by making contributions described in section 3141(2)(B)(i) of this title, by assuming an enforceable commitment to bear the costs of a plan or program referred to in section 3141(2)(B)(ii) of this title, or by any combination of payment, contribution, and assumption, where the aggregate of the payments, contributions, and costs is not less than the basic hourly rate of pay plus the amount referred to in section 3141(2)(B) of this title.

(e)In determining the overtime pay to which a laborer or mechanic is entitled under any federal law, the regular or basic hourly rate of pay (or other alternative rate on which premium rate of overtime compensation is computed) of the laborer or mechanic is deemed to be the rate computed under section 3141(2)(A) of this title, except that where the amount of payments, contributions, or costs incurred with respect to the laborer or mechanic exceeds the applicable prevailing wage, the regular or basic hourly rate of pay (or other alternative rate) is the amount of payments, contributions, or costs actually incurred with respect to the laborer or mechanic minus the greater of the amount of contributions or costs of the types described in section 3141(2)(B) of this title actually incurred with respect to the laborer or mechanic or the amount determined under section 3141(2)(B) of this title but not actually paid.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised SectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 3142(a), (b)40:276a(a) (words before 1st semicolon).Mar. 3, 1931, ch. 411, § 1(a), 46 Stat. 1494; Aug. 30, 1935, ch. 825, 49 Stat. 1011; June 15, 1940, ch. 373, § 1, 54 Stat. 399; Pub. L. 86–624, § 26, July 12, 1960, 74 Stat. 418; Pub. L. 88–349, § 1, July 2, 1964, 78 Stat. 238. 3142(c)40:276a(a) (words after 1st semicolon). 3142(d)40:276a(b) (1st par. proviso).Mar. 3, 1931, ch. 411, § 1(b) (1st par. proviso, last par.), as added Pub. L. 88–349, § 1, July 2, 1964, 78 Stat. 239. 3142(e)40:276a(b) (last par.). In subsection (a), the words “a State” are substituted for “the geographical limits of the States of the Union” for consistency in the revised title and with other titles of the United States Code and to eliminate unnecessary words. In subsection (b), the words “city, town, village, or other” are omitted as unnecessary. In subsection (d), the words “of a type” are omitted as unnecessary. The words “basic hourly rate of pay” are substituted for “rate of pay described in paragraph (1)” for clarity.

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2006—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 109–284, § 6(12), inserted “of this title” after “amount referred to in section 3141(2)(B)”. Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 109–284, § 6(13), inserted “of this title” after “determined under section 3141(2)(B)”.

§3142 Rate of Wages for Laborers and Mechanics