§4.177. Discharging fringe benefit obligations by equivalent means. — Inbound Citations

(b) Under this provision, the fringe benefits, if any, which the contractor or subcontractor is required to furnish the service employees engaged in the performance of the contract are specified in the contract documents (see § 4.6). How the contractor may satisfy this obligation is dealt with in §§ 4.170 through 4.177 of this part. A change in the fringe benefits required by the contract provision will not result from the mere fact that other or additional fringe benefits are determined to be prevailing for such employees in the locality at a time subsequent to the award but before completion of the contract. Such fringe benefit determinations are effective for contracts not yet awarded (see § 4.5(a)), or in the event that changes in an existing contract requiring their insertion for prospective application have occurred (see §§ 4.143 through 4.145). However, none of the provisions of this paragraph may be construed as altering a successor contractor's obligations under section 4(c) of the Act. (See § 4.163.)

(j) Wage determinations which are issued for successor contracts subject to section 4(c) are intended to accurately reflect the rates and fringe benefits set forth in the predecessor's collective bargaining agreement. However, failure to include in the wage determination any job classification, wage rate, or fringe benefit encompassed in the collective bargaining agreement does not relieve the successor contractor of the statutory requirement to comply at a minimum with the terms of the collective bargaining agreement insofar as wages and fringe benefits are concerned. Since the successor's obligations are governed by the terms of the collective bargaining agreement, any interpretation of the wage and fringe benefit provisions of the collective bargaining agreement where its provisions are unclear must be based on the intent of the parties to the collective bargaining agreement, provided that such interpretation is not violative of law. Therefore, some of the principles discussed in §§ 4.170 through 4.177 regarding specific interpretations of the fringe benefit provisions of prevailing wage determinations may not be applicable to wage determinations issued pursuant to section 4(c). As provided in section 2(a)(2), a contractor may satisfy its fringe benefit obligations under any wage determination “by furnishing any equivalent combinations of fringe benefits or by making equivalent or differential payments in cash” in accordance with the rules and regulations set forth in § 4.177 of this subpart.

(1) Monetary wages specified under the Act shall be paid to the employees to whom they are due promptly and in no event later than one pay period following the end of the pay period in which they are earned. No deduction, rebate, or refund is permitted, except as hereinafter stated. The same rules apply to cash payments authorized to be paid with the statutory monetary wages as equivalents of determined fringe benefits (see § 4.177).

(a) Fringe benefits required under the Act shall be furnished, separate from and in addition to the specified monetary wages, by the contractor or subcontractor to the employees engaged in performance of the contract, as specified in the determination of the Secretary or his authorized representative and prescribed in the contract documents. Section 2(a)(2) of the Act provides that the obligation to furnish the specified benefits “may be discharged by furnishing any equivalent combinations of fringe benefits or by making equivalent or differential payments in cash under rules and regulations established by the Secretary.” The governing rules and regulations for furnishing such equivalents are set forth in § 4.177 of this subpart. An employer cannot offset an amount of monetary wages paid in excess of the wages required under the determination in order to satisfy his fringe benefit obligations under the Act, and must keep appropriate records separately showing amounts paid for wages and amounts paid for fringe benefits.

(2) As set forth in § 4.172, unless specified otherwise in an applicable fringe benefit determination, service employees must be furnished the required amount of fringe benefits for all hours paid for up to a maximum of 40 hours per week and 2,080 hours per year. Thus, an employee on paid vacation leave would accrue and must be compensated for any other applicable fringe benefits specified in the fringe benefit determination, and if any of the other benefits are furnished in the form of cash equivalents, such equivalents must be included with the applicable hourly wage rate in computing vacation benefits or a cash equivalent therefor. The rules and regulations for computing cash equivalents are set forth in § 4.177.

(6) The rules and regulations for furnishing equivalent fringe benefits or cash equivalents in lieu of holiday pay are discussed in § 4.177.

(3) The rules and regulations for furnishing equivalent fringe benefits or cash equivalents in lieu of health and welfare and pension benefits are discussed in § 4.177.

(b) A contractor's obligation to furnish the specified fringe benefits to temporary and part-time employees may be discharged by furnishing equivalent benefits, cash equivalents, or a combination thereof in accordance with the rules and regulations set forth in § 4.177.

Reference is made in § 4.180 to the rules prescribed by section 6 of the Act which permit exclusion of certain fringe benefits and equivalents provided pursuant to section 2(a)(2) of the Act from the regular or basic rate of pay when computing overtime compensation of a service employee under the provisions of any other Federal law. As provided in § 4.177, not only those fringe benefits excludable under section 6 as benefits determined and specified under section 2(a)(2), but also equivalent fringe benefits and cash payments furnished in lieu of the specified benefits may be excluded from the regular or basic rate of such an employee. The application of this rule may be illustrated by the following examples:

(2) The hourly cash equivalent of those fringe benefits which are not stated in the applicable determination in terms of hourly cash amounts may be obtained by mathematical computation through the use of pertinent factors such as the monetary wages paid the employee and the hours of work attributable to the period, if any, by which fringe benefits are measured in the determination. If the employee's regular rate of pay is greater than the minimum monetary wage specified in the wage determination and the contract, the former must be used for this computation, and if the fringe benefit determination does not specify any daily or weekly hours of work by which benefits are to be measured, a standard 8-hour day and 40-hour week will be considered applicable. The application of these rules in typical situations is illustrated in paragraphs (c)(3) through (7) of this section.

(2) The hourly cash equivalent of those fringe benefits which are not stated in the applicable determination in terms of hourly cash amounts may be obtained by mathematical computation through the use of pertinent factors such as the monetary wages paid the employee and the hours of work attributable to the period, if any, by which fringe benefits are measured in the determination. If the employee's regular rate of pay is greater than the minimum monetary wage specified in the wage determination and the contract, the former must be used for this computation, and if the fringe benefit determination does not specify any daily or weekly hours of work by which benefits are to be measured, a standard 8-hour day and 40-hour week will be considered applicable. The application of these rules in typical situations is illustrated in paragraphs (c)(3) through (7) of this section.

(2) The hourly cash equivalent of those fringe benefits which are not stated in the applicable determination in terms of hourly cash amounts may be obtained by mathematical computation through the use of pertinent factors such as the monetary wages paid the employee and the hours of work attributable to the period, if any, by which fringe benefits are measured in the determination. If the employee's regular rate of pay is greater than the minimum monetary wage specified in the wage determination and the contract, the former must be used for this computation, and if the fringe benefit determination does not specify any daily or weekly hours of work by which benefits are to be measured, a standard 8-hour day and 40-hour week will be considered applicable. The application of these rules in typical situations is illustrated in paragraphs (c)(3) through (7) of this section.

(2) The hourly cash equivalent of those fringe benefits which are not stated in the applicable determination in terms of hourly cash amounts may be obtained by mathematical computation through the use of pertinent factors such as the monetary wages paid the employee and the hours of work attributable to the period, if any, by which fringe benefits are measured in the determination. If the employee's regular rate of pay is greater than the minimum monetary wage specified in the wage determination and the contract, the former must be used for this computation, and if the fringe benefit determination does not specify any daily or weekly hours of work by which benefits are to be measured, a standard 8-hour day and 40-hour week will be considered applicable. The application of these rules in typical situations is illustrated in paragraphs (c)(3) through (7) of this section.

The Act does not provide for compensation of covered employees at premium rates for overtime hours of work. Section 6 recognizes, however, that other Federal laws may require such compensation to be paid to employees working on or in connection with contracts subject to the Act (see § 4.181) and prescribes, for purposes of such laws, the manner in which fringe benefits furnished pursuant to the Act shall be treated in computing such overtime compensation as follows: “In determining any overtime pay to which such service employees are entitled under any Federal law, the regular or basic hourly rate of such an employee shall not include any fringe benefit payments computed hereunder which are excluded from the regular rate under the Fair Labor Standards Act by provisions of section 7(d)now [section 7(e)] thereof.” Fringe benefit payments which qualify for such exclusion are described in part 778, subpart C of this title. The interpretations there set forth will be applied in determining the overtime pay to which covered service employees are entitled under other Federal statutes. The effect of section 6 of the Act in situations where equivalent fringe benefits or cash payments are provided in lieu of the specified fringe benefits is stated in § 4.177(e) of this part, and illustrated in § 4.182.