Know the Employment Benefits of Your Prevailing Wage Workers
Different laws and regulations define the employee benefits workers can get when working for prevailing wage projects. Prevailing wage jobs are public works projects, which are funded by taxpayers and are contracted by government agencies or offices.
What are the laws on prevailing wage and benefits?
The various laws which define prevailing wage requirements when it comes to government contracts are enforced by the Wage and Hour Division of the US Department of Labor. These laws should be familiar to businesses dealing in government contracting:
- The Davis-Bacon and Related Acts (DBRA) requires government contractors to pay prevailing wages to laborers and mechanics.
- The McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act (SCA) requires employers to pay prevailing wage rates and fringe employee benefits to service workers employed on federal government contracts
Other laws which should be familiar are the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act (CWHSSA), Copeland Anti-Kickback Act and the Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act.
Under these laws, certain employees who are employed on contracts to provide services to the federal government can be entitled to benefits. These benefits include family and medical leave, funeral leave, personal leave, and sick leave.
What are the employee benefits given to prevailing wage workers?
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), contractors and employers are not required to pay for time not worked, including attending a funeral. Similarly, the FLSA does not require payment for personal leave, vacations, sick leave, or federal or other holidays. These absences should be negotiated between the employer or employee.
On the other hand, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year to certain employees, with the assurance that their group health benefits are maintained during the leave. This act applies to all public agencies, and companies with 50 or more employees, and all elementary and secondary schools. The following reasons can define employee eligibility for family and medical leave:
- For the birth and care of the newborn child
- For placement with the employee of a child for adoption or foster care
- To care for an immediate family member with a serious health condition
- To take medical leave, if a serious health condition means the employee is unable to work
Learn More with ARCHER JORDAN
Your compliance with the law to provide the correct wage and benefits to your employees is of utmost importance. With ARCHER JORDAN, you can know more about how you can correctly provide for employee benefits in government contracting.
