One of the most common questions we get asked about prevailing wage construction is how to make an accurate prevailing wage rate determination; or, stated differently, how do you know if you’re using the correct wage decision? Honestly, given how crucial this little detail is, it’s amazing how misunderstood this is given that paying the correct prevailing wage rate is no trivial matter! If you’re using the wrong prevailing wage calculations, it means you’re either over or underpaying your employees. And while overpaying your employees is bad for your bottom-line, underpaying on prevailing wage rates can result in nasty fines – which is even worse!
So, with that in mind, we thought we’d take a moment and remind you that only one thing matters when it comes to California prevailing wage contracting – and that’s the Bid Advertisement Date! OK, yeah, most of our clients know that’s the case in the abstract, but what does it mean in practice? It means that, regardless of the bid date, or when you started work, those important business dates are irrelevant under California prevailing wage law. Can we be more clear about that? All that matters with California prevailing wage is the Bid Advertisement Date. What is the Bid Advertisement Date? It is the date that the bid was published in a general notice of circulation. Which means, in English, the Bid Advertisement Date.
Oh, but wait you say. What about the date of the bid, doesn’t that matter? And the answer is, “no.” What matters is… that’s right, the Bid Advertisement Date. What about new wage decisions published twice per year – shouldn’t contractors be using those to determine prevailing wage rates for employees -maybe adjusting rates according to the newly published prevailing wage? And the answer is – those published prevailing wages have one purpose for you, and that’s to help you make a prevailing wage determination based upon the Bid Advertisement Date for your job. Once the job is up and running, the only rate that applies is… Well, you get the point.
It really is that simple… assuming that the prevailing wage rate determination that relates to your Bid Advertisement Date has been published – which, is the dilemma facing one of our clients… Or when the Awarding Body neglects to identify the Bid Advertisement Date – which another client is wrestling with… Or, when any other number of complications arise… And, of course, there’s the important notices section of the DLSR website which may contain corrections or changes or… And then there’s the issue of how to determine the correct wage decision for a federal Davis-Bacon prevailing wage job… But, those are for another blog post!
