A federal contractor refers to an agreement between a person or entity with a department or an agency of the federal government to provide services, supply or for other work. These contractors are governed by a set of special employment laws and regulations different from those in the private sector. The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Program (OFCCP) is tasked with the duty of enforcing these laws. It administers and enforces the following laws: Executive Order 11246, Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Vietnam Era Veteran Readjustment Assistance Act.

An individual is required to meet the following Equal Employment Opportunities (EEO) requirements before being considered for a federal government contract:

• Discourage and prevent discrimination.
• Ensure proper records are kept.
• Ensure equal employment opportunities posters are posted accordingly.
• The inclusion of an equal employment opportunity statement in job advertisements.
• Assist the OFCCP in compliance evaluation and complaint investigation.
• Ensure proper filing of annual equal employment opportunities (EEO-1) reports.

Federal contractors have to meet these special set of requirements from the federal government:

• Use of E-verify system: this is a fast and accurate Internet-based system that enables the federal contractor to verify their employee’s eligibility. It compares data entered on an employee’s form 1-9(Employee Eligibility Verification) with data from the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration. Following this procedure, the federal government ensures it works with companies using legal workers and helps the contractors to comply with the law.
• Federal contractors are also required to provide a drug-free work area. The Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988 is aimed at improving workers’ safety and health.

In addition, federal contractors are subject to nondiscrimination and affirmative action procedures. Affirmative actions are a series of positive and proactive measures taken to promote equal employment opportunities eliminate discrimination and the inclusion of previously excluded individuals. These laws and regulations include:

• Executive Order 11246: all federal contractors are forbidden from discriminating employment by race, color, sex, sexual orientation, religion, natural origin and gender identity.
• Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973: all federal contractors are required to take affirmative actions to recruit, train, employ and promote qualified persons with disabilities.
• The Vietnam Era Veteran Readjustment Assistance Act: federal contractors are required to take affirmative actions to recruit, train, employ and promote veterans. These include veterans disabled in war or those who have left the army in a period not longer than three years from discharge.

To ensure employees working for federal contractors are well informed when negotiating for fair salaries, the contractors are subject to pay transparency. This means an employee is aware of how much their colleagues are paid.

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Public works projects in California are governed by prevailing wage laws. Even so, employees often don’t realize they are getting shortchanged until they find out another worker on the same site working for a different contractor is getting paid significantly more.

These laws were established to prevent contractors and subcontractors from reducing employee wages to compete for projects. The central purpose of the prevailing wage law, which is a minimum wage law, is to protect and benefit workers on public works projects by ensuring these employees receive wages common to their trade, craft, or classification.

What is California’s Prevailing Wage Law?

The California Prevailing Wage Law is a comprehensive statutory scheme designed to enforce minimum wage standards on construction projects funded in whole or in part with public funds.

Under this law, ALL workers employed on public works projects costing more than $1,000 must be paid not less than the general prevailing rate as determined by the Director of the Department of Industrial Relations.

The duty to pay prevailing wages extends to both the prime contractor and all subcontractors. The central purpose of this law, which is a minimum wage law, is to protect and benefit employees on public works projects.

Which Employers Are Covered?

The duty to pay California prevailing wages extends to both the prime contractor and all subcontractors on public works projects. A subcontractor is any person or company that has agreed to provide services for a primary or prime contractor, whether it is a purchase order or contract or oral agreement.

If you are working at a job site, your employer is either a contractor or a subcontractor.

What is a Public Works Project? 

Under these laws, a public works project is any project costing more than $1,000 that is funded in whole or in part with public funds. So even if your work site appears to be a private sector project, if part of the funds comes from public sources it may be considered a public works project.

What Rate Should be Paid?

The Director of the Department of Industrial Relations determines and publishes the wage rates for specific trades, crafts, or classifications.

The applicable rate depends on your duties, NOT the title your employer gives you. For example, your employer may hire you as a roofer, but you are doing work as a mechanic.

Courts will look at your actual job duties and determine that you should have been paid the prevailing wage for a mechanic even though your title is “roofer.”

A qualified attorney can help evaluate the job duties and determine the correct wages.

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