The term prevailing wage rate or "white sheet" means the basic hourly rate of pay, plus the hourly contribution for employee benefits, paid directly or indirectly for an occupation or trade. If no benefits are provided, the hourly base rate and the hourly benefit amount are required to be paid directly to the employee. State and federal prevailing wage laws require contractors engaged in public construction to pay their workers a wage comparable to those of construction workers performing similar private work in the same geographic area. On January 1, 2010, Wisconsin's state prevailing wage laws undergo major revisions. The following chart summarizes the significant changes in the law.
| SUMMARY OF MAJOR PREVAILING WAGE LAW CHANGES EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1, 2010 | | Topic | Who's affected? | Requirement under §66.0903, §66.0904 or §103.49 | | Types of projects requiring a prevailing wage rate determination | Local governmental units, state government & contractors | Prevailing wages are required for any project of public works including a project completed by counties for another local governmental unit, leasebacks and turnkey projects. | | New Threshold | All public entities | Any public works project with an estimated cost of completion of at least $25,000 requires prevailing wages. | | Certified payroll record | Non-Union Contractors | Every non-union contractor on a prevailing wage project is required to electronically submit to DWD monthly certified payroll that will be posted on DWD's Internet website. | | Penalties | Contractors & Complainants | A contractor that fails to pay prevailing wages when required must pay the affected employee(s) the amount of unpaid wages plus 100% of that amount as liquidated damages. | | Public funded private construction project | Owner, Developer of real property, Contractors, Employee & Local governmental unit | A publicly funded private construction project that receives at least $1,000,000 in direct financial assistance from a local governmental unit requires prevailing wages. | | Fringe Benefits | All Contractors | To be a "bona fide economic benefit" and counted toward prevailing wages now requires an employer made irrevocable contributions to a bona fide plan, trust, program, or fund no less often than quarterly. |
The public agency contracting the public works project has the responsibility to obtain the required wage rates and apply them to the public contract during the bidding process. The owner or developer of any publicly funded private construction project must apply to DWD for a prevailing wage rate determination and apply them to the private project during the bidding process. Construction projects with federal funding may also require federal prevailing wage rates (also known as Davis-Bacon) to be paid to employees on federally funded or assisted contracts in excess of $2,000.
To find out more about Wisconsin's prevailing wage laws and why they benefit everyone click here. |
