Davis Bacon Related Acts

A laborer, worker, or truck driver employed to process, manufacture, pick up or deliver materials or products from a commercial establishment or from a facility that is not dedicated exclusively to public works projects shall not be entitled to receive compensation at the prevailing wage rate unless any two of the following conditions are met:

(a) said employee is employed to go to the source of mineral aggregate and deliver that aggregate to the public work project site by depositing the material directly to its final place; or

(b) said employee goes to the public work project site to pick up excavated material or spoil from the site and transport said materials away from the project site.

Public work projects in Wisconsin must have a total estimated cost equal or more than the following thresholds:

(a) Single-trade project (where single trade accounts to 85% or more of the total labor cost) must cost at least $48,000.

(b) Multiple-trade project (where no single trade accounts to 85% or more of the total labor cost) must cost at least $100,000 (unless the project falls under the third threshold).

(c) Multi-trade project of $234,000 applied to projects erected, built, repaired, improved, demolished, or remodeled for a city or college with a population less than 2400, or for a town.

Wisconsin prevailing wage rate determinations for all trades are released by the DWD on or before the 30th of June in a year and will be effective for the remainder of the calendar year. Determinations released after June 30 are effective for 180 days.
Additional increases are considered as futures in the wage determinations. Prevailing wage determinations, after they are issued, are never updated, regardless of project duration, change in local wage conditions or change in CBA’s.

A state agency or a local government unit can request a review of the wage rates issued under WS § 66 or § 103.49. The request must be made by writing, and received by mail with a postmark date within 30 days from the issue of the wage determination. The request must be done 10 days before the awarding of the public works contract. The request must include the wage rate of the contested job classification.
An appeal to the Governor can be made if the DOT considers any rate issued under WS § 103.50 as incorrect.

Wisconsin prevailing wage law considers work hours in excess of 10 hours a day or 40 hours a week as overtime. Overtime must be paid at 1.5 times the basic hourly rate. This is only applicable to the hourly basic pay. Fringe benefits are still paid at straight time rate. If a specific fringe benefit is required to be paid at a different rate, it should be footnoted in the wage determination.

The Wisconsin prevailing wage law requires that any work done on the weekends must be paid 1.5 times the basic hourly rate pay.

Submission of certified payroll record on a weekly basis is usually The Wisconsin prevailing wage requires that any work incurred on the following 6 holidays must be paid 1.5 times the basic hourly rate pay:

(a) New Year’s Day

(b) Memorial Day

(c) July 4th

(d) Labor Day

(e) Thanksgiving

(f) Christmas

Additional days that require compensation of 1.5 times the basic hourly rate pay are:

(a) the day before a holiday if New Year’s Day, July 4 or Christmas falls on a Saturday

(b) the day after a holiday if New Year’s Day, July 4, or Christmas falls on a Sunday.

The DWD shall include provisions for the wage rates of the different shifts bases on the time the work is performed for state highway prevailing wage rates.

Wisconsin prevailing wage laws consider the following as fringe benefits:

• health insurance;
• vacation;
• holiday pay;
• pension; and
• retirement contributions paid by the employer.

Meanwhile, the following shall not be considered fringe benefits because they are required by law:

• social security;
• unemployment insurance;
• workers compensation;
• payment for uniforms, lodging, meals, mileage;
• use of a vehicle; and
• riding time and waiting time.

As per the Wisconsin Prevailing Wage Laws, a training fund contribution is a bona fide fringe benefit.

The apprentice that you hire must be registered either:

• in a bona fide apprenticeship program administered by the US DOL,
• a state agency recognized by the DOL, or
• under the Wisconsin apprenticeship law.

The apprentice must also be approved by the Wisconsin DWD Bureau of Apprentice Standards.

You cannot pay an unregistered apprentice less than the prevailing wage rate. Apprentices must be paid a percentage of the journeyman’s hourly basic pay and hourly fringe benefit contributions as indicated in the Wisconsin prevailing wage rate determination. The percentage is stated in the apprentice’s contract or indenture.

There is no provision in the Wisconsin prevailing wage law on the number of apprentices that you can hire but the Local Joint Apprenticeship Committee and the DWD’s Bureau of Apprenticeship prescribe the ratio of apprentices to journeymen.

Travel time from the employee’s home to the job site is not paid. However, travel time from an employer’s place to a job site may be paid.
Subsistence is not part of the prevailing wage rate.

The DWD does not require licenses of any trade or contractor. However, residential builders, electricians, plumbers, and other specialty trades, must have a state credential.

Upon request by the DWD, you must submit certified payroll records for a 4-week period. The DWD must make these certified records public for inspection.

If the DWD finds that a contractor failed to pay the prevailing wage rate, the contractor is required to pay the amount of due wages. In addition, liquidated damages will be given which is equal to 100% of the unpaid wages.
A violation of the prevailing wage laws will subject the contractor to a fine of up to $200 per day, or imprisonment for not more than six months, or both. Violations can also result in a forfeiture of $10 to $100 a day.
Under special circumstances, the DWD may recover up to an additional 50% of any due unpaid wages. Normally, this may only be recovered if a contractor failed to complete a self-audit.

The following violations can cause debarment:

(a) Failing to pay an employee the proper prevailing wage rate

(b) Failing to pay an employee at least 1.5 times the proper hourly basic rate of pay overtime work

(c) Inducing any employee to give up, return, or waive a portion of their prevailing wage

(d) Deliberately destroying, perjuring, falsifying, or failing to keep a record of the payroll of the prevailing wage workers.