Prevailing wage jobs

[sjaniga]

We just finished quoting a prevailing wage job and here in MI it works out to be about 33.00/hr, which means I would have to pay my guys about 12.00/hr more than normal. So when quoting I worked it both ways on the labor, one at the normal billout and one 12.00 more per hour. this was an open bid format, so all bids were posted and all the other contractors were clustered at the lower price, except us, we used the higher billout. after talking to one of the contractors he said they dont actually pay their guys the higher rate. Isnt there supposed to be an agency governing this stuff? Has anyone else come accross this?

[Nick]

Very common occurrence here in California. The problem is enforcement. The state just doesn't have enough money to police it all. The unions here are acting as the enforcers by bringing cheaters up on charges but they (we, I am union) can't catch everyone. They penalty is usually back pay to all the men that worked on the job plus some fines and banned from bidding that type of work for a period of time. One out of state contractor just lost a case having to do with a job in the Mammoth Mountain area. Not only did he not pay the prevailing rate, he didn't pay the $8.00 per hour zone B pay for that area. I don't remember the dollar amount he has to pay back but it is in the 10's of thousands of dollars. Like it or not it is the law and you should comply. If you don't, be ready to pat the piper.

[jerod]

i have worked all sides of the fence on this. as a contractor i was contacted daily by contract administrators. as an contract representative (employed by the federal gov't) i was required to interview every contract employee regarding safety and wages. as an electrician i was contacted numerous times during the job. i must admit that 90% of the contractors are honest. what happens to the other 10%? the effected employees are informed of there rights, the contractor usually complies or the job stops. most of the time the general is taken off the bid list for a year. the subs are the big offenders and the general is held accountable. i think the problem is not going away, when you have a guy pulling wire making more than a guy feeding wire it can get a little cumbersome. here in california on federal jobs the experienced generals know what they can get away with and the unexperienced learn quick. i have seen where a contractor who has been taken off the bid list working again with-in a couple of months or back under a different name. the biggest offenders appear to be the traveling contractor who bids only federal jobs. the facility where i am employed, there is a contract rep on site any time they work, period! i have worked several state jobs and the state contract reps are or were very strict. mammoth mountain is out in the boonies and the contractors are usually travelers and not many of them bidding i would think, at least that is how it is in my rural area just over the mountain from you. we may put a job out and not get any bidders and go to the banned contractor and watch closely.

[tkirk911]

CONTACT STATE LABOR BOARD AND INFORM THEM. THEY ARE REQUIRED BY LAW TO INVESTIGATE. FURTHERMORE, THEY WILL REQUIRE THE CONTRACTOR TO PRODUCE CERTIFIED PAYROLL AND MAY EVEN ASK THE EMPLOYEES.
IN DELAWARE, THE LABOR BOARD MAKES MONTHLY VISITS TO ALL JOB SITES THAT ARE PREVAILING WAGE. MENTAL NOTE: PREVAILING WAGE IS A WAY TO KEEP THE UNION COMPETIVE

[msmeth]

Don't cheat. I don't see how you can anyway, but we don't have a larcinist mind set. I am in CA and don't cheat on State or Fed and still spent untold hours writting letters to to buricrats that don't know May 25th was a Sunday. Yes all this bull is to protect the unions, insted of doing what is right for the people of the state.

There are a lot of tricks in the big commercial jobs. If you don't play along you don't play. I stopped playing.

1. You pay your guys the prevailing wage, you just don't pay them for all their hours. They're happy, you're happy, the customer is happy. It's illegal.

2. You bid jobs at cost and pay the prevailing wage. This may be be what some of the other contractors did who bid the job low. Every commercial job has major change orders. You do the base contract at cost and you play by the rules you make no profit on the base contract. Then you BLAST them on the change orders. This is not illegal but you do have to be a gambling man and have large testicles.

I have chosen not to play either game.

[luke warmwater]

awwt, I'm with you on this one.

Your #2 is also done in non-wage jobs and in residential.

If you're good, you make money on the base bid and on the extras.

It is easier to keep good employees when you're always making money.

[don_resqcapt19]

awwt,
The pervailing wage rules do not apply to commerical jobs. They only apply to government jobs.
Don

[cm]

What do you do if your guys have to go back to non prevaling wage work ,mine all cry about it,dont want to do service work,for old customers etc Ive told them they have to take the good with the bad and if they dont like it leave they can be replaced!

[roger]

Cm, your point needs to be expanded on.

Let's take employees that are allowed to take lunch when they want to, take breaks when they want to, work the days they want to, etc... now, try to impose a set of rules regulating the above,
they will "drag up" and go to work for another company that already have these rules in place.

The point is, when someone is given anything that is changed or taken away, they will always feel cheated and the employer / employee relationship is gone in most cases.

I have found that if using Davis Bacon rules, most are well above this anyways.

Roger