Final Rule Effective for the Davis-Bacon Act

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Updating the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts Regulations
Oct. 23, 2023

Effective today, October 23, 2023, the U.S. Department of Labor implemented the final rule, “Updating the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts Regulations.” This implementation follows the official publishing of the final rule in the Federal Register on August 23, 2023.

The change in regulation provides greater clarity and enhances the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts (DBRA) regulations’ effectiveness in the modern economy. Updates to the regulations strengthen and streamline the process for setting and enforcing prevailing wage rates on federally funded construction projects. This ensures that when the federal government invests in infrastructure, it also invests in workers.

These regulatory changes improve the department’s ability to administer and enforce DBRA labor standards effectively and efficiently. These changes include:

  • Creating several efficiencies in the prevailing wage update system and ensuring prevailing wage rates keep up with actual wages, which over time would mean higher wages for workers.
  • Returning to the definition of “prevailing wage” used from 1935 to 1983 to ensure prevailing wages reflect actual wages paid to workers in the local community.
  • Periodically updating prevailing wage rates to address out-of-date wage determinations.
  • Providing broader authority to adopt state or local wage determinations when certain criteria are met.
  • Issuing supplemental rates for key job classifications when no survey data exists.
  • Updating the regulatory language to better reflect modern construction practices.
  • Strengthening worker protections and enforcement, including debarment and new anti-retaliation provisions.

Visit our website for more information on the Davis-Bacon Final Rule and the Davis-Bacon Act.

Davis-Bacon Regulations in the Federal Register

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The Intersection of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Davis-Bacon Act Requirements for Federal Contractors and Subcontractors

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

The National Law Review
Friday, June 17, 2022

On November 15, 2021, President Joe Biden signed the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act into law, which is popularly known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (“BIL”).

The BIL is estimated to create an additional 800,000 jobs. The United States Department of Labor (“DOL”) contends that such new jobs will “expand the middle class, revitalize our nation’s transportation, communications and utility systems and build a more resilient, reliable, and environmentally sound future.” The White House asserts that the BIL will provide protection to “critical labor standards on construction projects,” as a substantial portion of the construction projects included in the BIL will be subject to requirements of the Davis-Bacon Act (“DBA” or the “Act”).

While the BIL provides new revenue sources and opportunities for construction projects, federal contractors and subcontractors should ensure that their businesses comply with the DBA’s prevailing wage rates and labor standards requirements.

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Practical Consideration in Compliance with DBA
Federal contractors and subcontractors should ensure that covered workers are properly classified for the work such individuals perform and paid in accordance with the prevailing wage rate for their classification.

Employers will often face recordkeeping challenges when they have nonexempt employees who perform covered (manual) work and non-covered (administrative) work in the same workweek.

In such instances, the employer must determine whether the employee is salaried or paid hourly. If the employee is salaried, the employer must determine whether the employee’s salary is greater than or equal to the prevailing wage rate for the employee’s classification. If not, the employer contractor is required to increase the employee’s pay for the week the covered work is performed.

Likewise, if the employee is paid hourly, then the employer must ensure the employee’s hourly rate is greater than or equal to the prevailing wage rate for the employee’s classification.

Federal contractors and subcontractors could face various consequences due to their failure to comply with the DBA, ranging from termination of the federal contract and debarment to a contracting agency withholding money due to the contractor to cover back wages due to employees as well as criminal prosecution. Accordingly, federal contractors and subcontractors should consult with legal counsel to ensure they comply with the various DBA requirements for any covered contracts.

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