While the laws enforced by the Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) may be the most familiar to the many federal contractors, some federal contractors engaged in construction are also subject to the requirements of the Davis-Bacon Act (DBA) and the Davis-Bacon Related Acts (DBRA).
The DBA, enacted in 1931, is a federal law that is enforced by the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD). For laborers and mechanics employed under certain federal construction contracts, the DBA requires payment of no less than the wages and fringe benefits prevailing for the same job classification in the same area. This so-called “prevailing wage” is determined by DOL.
Because we get calls from time to time from CWC members about DBA-related compliance issues, we thought it might be helpful to explain the basics of the DBA, the rights it confers, and the obligations it imposes on covered federal construction contractors, presented in a user-friendly question and answer format.
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC) can read more here.