Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Protect Our Workers Act of 2021”.
Protect Our Workers Act of 2021
A BILL
To ensure that contractor employees on Army Corps projects are paid prevailing wages as required by law, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Findings
The Congress finds the following:
The Davis-Bacon Act of 1931 (40 U.S.C. 3141 et seq.) requires that contractors and subcontractors on certain government projects pay construction workers locally prevailing wages as determined by the Department of Labor.
Locally prevailing wages vary by job classification and consist of a basic hourly rate of pay and benefits.
Generally, the Davis-Bacon Act applies to projects that meet the following three criteria:
There is a contract for construction in excess of $2,000.
The United States or the District of Columbia is a party to the contract.
The contract is for construction, alteration, or repair of a public building or public work.
Under the Davis-Bacon Act, the Government may terminate a contract if locally prevailing wages have not been paid to employees working on the project.
For 90 years, the Davis-Bacon Act has helped ensure quality craftsmanship on Federal projects, protected the standard of living of skilled and trained blue-collar construction workers, improved workplace safety by discouraging “fly-by-night” contractors from bidding, incentivized workforce training, and stimulated the economy.
The Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor administers the Davis-Bacon Act by, among other things, determining prevailing wage rates and prescribing regulations and standards to be observed by contracting agencies.
Contracting agencies, such as the Corps of Engineers, however, have the primary day-to-day responsibility for enforcement of the Davis-Bacon Act and its labor standards requirements pursuant to subparts 22.406 and 22.407 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation and part 5 of title 29, Code of Federal Regulations and Reorganization Plan No. 14 of 1950 (5 U.S.C. app.).
Some irresponsible contractors and subcontractors often avoid their prevailing wage obligations by, among other things, engaging in craft misclassification.
Craft misclassification refers to the practice in which contractors misclassify high-skilled workers as general laborers or other classifications in order to avoid paying the higher prevailing wage rate applicable to the high-skilled work actually performed.
As part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (Public Law 116–92), Congress directed the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct a study on the contracting practices of the Army Corps of Engineers.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) published their report on this study on March 10, 2021 with recommendations to the Army Corps of Engineers to ensures contractor employees are paid prevailing wages as required by the Davis-Bacon Act.
In their report, GAO found that from Fiscal Years 2015 to 2019, there were five times as many subcontractors, compared to prime contractors, found to be in violation of the Davis-Bacon Act. None were recommended to the Department of Labor for debarment from receiving future contracts.
GAO found that the Army Corps of Engineers Headquarters guidance to their 38 districts lacks sufficient information to ensure consistent monitoring of contractors’ compliance with the Davis-Bacon Act from one Army Corps district to the next.
Sec. 3 Ensuring that contractor employees on army corps projects are paid prevailing wages as required by law
The Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works shall provide to each Army Corps district clarifying, uniform guidance with respect to prevailing wage requirements for contractors and subcontractors of the Army Corps that—
conforms with the Department of Labor’s regulations, policies, and guidance with respect to the proper implementation and enforcement of subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United States Code (commonly known as the “Davis-Bacon Act”) and other related Acts, including the proper classification of all crafts by Federal construction contractors and subcontractors;
directs Army Corps districts to investigate worker complaints and third-party complaints within 30 days of the date of filing; and
instructs Army Corps districts that certified payroll reports submitted by contractors and subcontractors and the information contained therein shall be publicly available and are not exempt from disclosure under section 552(b) of title 5, United States Code.