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2018-2019 Prevailing Wage Changes (HB 1729)

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  1. **NEW** Do the administrative rules governing apprentices and trainees conflict with the language of the new Prevailing Wage Law?

  2. **NEW** How long can an entry-level or on-the-job trainee be paid the 50% journeyman rate? What is the criteria to track the hours of progression for when these trainees should be paid the full journeyman rate?

  3. **NEW** Should overtime be defined as work over 40 hours in a 7 day time period?

  4. **NEW** Section 292.675 requires 10-hour safety training stipulations in all public works contracts. Does Section 290.230(5) (that exempts public works projects valued below $75,000) have any impact on this requirement for training?

  5. **NEW** Can contractors take credit for the fringes they pay on behalf of their employees if they pay prevailing wages? What about if they pay the public works contracting minimum wage (PWCMW)?

  6. **NEW** When DOLIR computes both the hourly wage rate for each occupational title in each county and the ”public works contracting minimum wage” (PWCMW) in each county, are fringe benefits added to the basic hourly rate?

  7. **NEW** If a bid is put out before August 28th but the contract is not completed until after the effective date of the new law, does such a project fall under the previous prevailing wage law or the new one?

  8. **NEW** In the past, the law allowed for annual wage orders to be changed once per year based upon hours worked under a collective bargaining agreement. Will anything change under the new law?

  9. **UPDATED** How does the new law impact the ratio of journeymen to "apprentice" and "entry-level" workers and their rate of pay?

  10. Until the new annual wage order is released in 2019, what rate should contractors and public entities use to calculate wages in the meantime?

  11. What is the "Public Works Contracting Minimum Wage"?

  12. How is the Public Works Contracting Minimum Wage (PWCMW) calculated?

  13. When will the new annual wage order containing the prevailing wage and the public works contracting minimum wage (PWCMW) rates be released?

  14. Will hours and wage data submitted before the new law goes into effect on August 28, 2018 be used to calculate the Prevailing Wage and PWCMW in 2019?

  15. Will all hours reported for occupational titles being consolidated into one occupational title under the new law be added together to set a rate?

  16. When determining the Prevailing Wage and PWCMW rates, are fringe benefits added to the to the hourly rate?

  17. How would a valid contract for a public works project be impacted by HB 1729 once effective?

  18. Are the mandatory rates for overtime and holidays based only upon the hourly rate or on the total hourly wage including fringe?

  19. Does the new law affect the existing timeline for calculating the annual prevailing wage rate?

  20. If a public body were to split up a project into phases, each of them costing less than $75,000, would the prevailing wage apply?

  21. If the estimated cost for a public works construction project is $75,000 or less, but cost overruns actually push the cost to $80,000, should the public entity pay the prevailing wage or the public works contracting minimum wage (PWCMW) for the project? If so, should such wage be paid for the entire project or only for the part of the project over $75,000?

  22. Should a contractor report hours worked in the previous fiscal year or the previous calendar year?

  23. If a contractor knows of a wage violation (even though they didn’t win that particular bid), can they file a complaint against another contractor or against the public body granting the contract?

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