---
kind: "section"
citation: "40 U.S.C. § 3708"
title: "40"
title_heading: "Public Buildings, Property, and Works"
number: "3708"
heading: "Criminal penalties"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/40/3708"
units:
  - "Subtitle II — Public Buildings and Works"
  - "Part A — General"
  - "Chapter 37 — Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards"
---

# §3708. Criminal penalties


A contractor or subcontractor having a duty to employ, direct, or control a laborer or mechanic employed in the performance of work contemplated by a contract to which this chapter applies that intentionally violates this chapter shall be fined under [title 18](/usc/18.md), imprisoned for not more than six months, or both.


## Source credit

(Pub. L. 107–217, Aug. 21, 2002, 116 Stat. 1174.)

## Notes

| Historical and Revision Notes |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Revised<br>Section | Source (U.S. Code) | Source (Statutes at Large) |
| 3708 | 40:332. | Pub. L. 87–581, title I, § 106, Aug. 13, 1962, 76 Stat. 359. |

The words “shall be fined under title 18” are substituted for “shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and for each and every such offense shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not to exceed $1,000” for consistency with chapter 227 of title 18. The words “in the discretion of the court having jurisdiction thereof” are omitted as unnecessary.