On August 8, 2023, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued over 800 pages representing its final rule “updating the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts Regulation” (“DBRA”).
The regulations were initially issued in a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking nearly 18 months ago. The DOL pretty much ignored the comments by contractors.
We are still conducting a thorough analysis of the comprehensive changes that will be effective 60 days subsequent to the publication in the Federal Register, but wanted to highlight some changes.
These rules have been on the DOL’s agenda since President Reagan rolled back many of the provisions of DBRA in 1982. For example, the final rule implements the Wage and Hour Division’s (“WHD”) original methodology for determining prevailing wages, known as the “three step process” that was in effect before 1983. According to the three step process, in the absence of a wage rate paid to a majority of workers in a particular classification, a wage rate will be considered prevailing, if it is paid to at least 30% percent of such workers. Only if no wage rate is paid to at least 30% of the workers in a classification will a weighted average rate be used.
Moreover, the WHD is allowed to periodically adjust certain noncollectively bargained rates based on the employment cost index published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In other words, the rates will automatically be increased once every three years.
It is critical for California employer contractors to know...
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