                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

PAYMENT OF PREVAILING WAGE FOR WORK PERFORMED ON PUBLIC WORKS CONTRACTS; PENALTY
(§ 2.2-4321.3)

A. As used in this section:
			&#8220;Locality&#8221; means any county, city, or town, school division, or
other political subdivision.
			&#8220;Prevailing wage rate&#8221; means the rate, amount, or level of wages,
salaries, benefits, and other remuneration prevailing for the corresponding
classes of mechanics, laborers, or workers employed for the same work in the
same trade or occupation in the locality in which the public facility or
immovable property that is the subject of public works is located, as determined
by the Commissioner of Labor and Industry on the basis of applicable prevailing
wage rate determinations made by the U.S. Secretary of Labor under the
provisions of the Davis-Bacon Act, 40 U.S.C. &#xA7; 276 et seq., as amended.
			&#8220;Public works&#8221; means the operation, erection, construction,
alteration, improvement, maintenance, or repair of any public facility or
immovable property owned, used, or leased by a state agency or locality,
including transportation infrastructure projects.
			&#8220;State agency&#8221; means any authority, board, department,
instrumentality, institution, agency, or other unit of state government.
&#8220;State agency&#8221; does not include any county, city, or town.

B. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, each state agency, when
procuring services or letting contracts for public works paid for in whole or in
part by state funds, or when overseeing or administering such contracts for
public works, shall ensure that its bid specifications or other public contracts
applicable to the public works require bidders, offerors, contractors, and
subcontractors to pay wages, salaries, benefits, and other remuneration to any
mechanic, laborer, or worker employed, retained, or otherwise hired to perform
services in connection with the public contract for public works at the
prevailing wage rate. Each public contract for public works by a state agency
shall contain a provision requiring that the remuneration to any individual
performing the work of any mechanic, laborer, or worker on the work contracted
to be done under the public contract shall be at a rate equal to the prevailing
wage rate.

C. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, any locality may adopt
an ordinance requiring that, when letting contracts for public works paid for in
whole or in part by funds of the locality, or when overseeing or administering a
public contract, its bid specifications, project agreements, or other public
contracts applicable to the public works shall require bidders, offerors,
contractors, and subcontractors to pay wages, salaries, benefits, and other
remuneration to any mechanic, laborer, or worker employed, retained, or
otherwise hired to perform services in connection with the public contract at
the prevailing wage rate. Each public contract of a locality that has adopted an
ordinance described in this section shall contain a provision requiring that the
remuneration to any individual performing the work of any mechanic, laborer, or
worker on the work contracted to be done under the public contract shall be at a
rate equal to the prevailing wage rate.

D. Any contractor or subcontractor who employs any mechanic, laborer, or worker
to perform work contracted to be done under the public contract for public works
for or on behalf of a state agency or for or on behalf of a locality that has
adopted an ordinance described in subsection C or at a rate that is less than
the prevailing wage rate (i) shall be liable to such individuals for the payment
of all wages due, plus interest at an annual rate of eight percent accruing from
the date the wages were due; and (ii) shall be disqualified from bidding on
public contracts with any public body until the contractor or subcontractor has
made full restitution of the amount described in clause (i) owed to such
individuals. A contractor or subcontractor who willfully violates this section
is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

E. Any interested party, which shall include a bidder, offeror, contractor, or
subcontractor, shall have standing to challenge any bid specification, project
agreement, or other public contract for public works that violates the
provisions of this section. Such interested party shall be entitled to
injunctive relief to prevent any violation of this section. Any interested party
bringing a successful action under this section shall be entitled to recover
reasonable attorney fees and costs from the responsible party.

F. A representative of a state agency or a representative of a locality that has
adopted an ordinance described in subsection C may contact the Commissioner of
Labor and Industry, at least 10 but not more than 20 days prior to the date bids
for such a public contract for public works will be advertised or solicited, to
ascertain the proper prevailing wage rate for work to be performed under the
public contract.

G. Upon the award of any public contract subject to the provisions of this
section, the contractor to whom such contract is awarded shall certify, under
oath, to the Commissioner of Labor and Industry the pay scale for each craft or
trade employed on the project to be used by such contractor and any of the
contractor&#8217;s subcontractors for work to be performed under such public
contract. This certification shall, for each craft or trade employed on the
project, specify the total hourly amount to be paid to employees, including
wages and applicable fringe benefits, provide an itemization of the amount paid
in wages and each applicable benefit, and list the names and addresses of any
third party fund, plan or program to which benefit payments will be made on
behalf of employees.

H. Each employer subject to the provisions of this section shall keep, maintain,
and preserve (i) records relating to the wages paid to and hours worked by each
individual performing the work of any mechanic, laborer, or worker and (ii) a
schedule of the occupation or work classification at which each individual
performing the work of any mechanic, laborer, or worker on the public works
project is employed during each work day and week. The employer shall preserve
these records for a minimum of six years and make such records available to the
Department of Labor and Industry within 10 days of a request and shall certify
that records reflect the actual hours worked and the amount paid to its workers
for whatever time period they request.

I. Contractors and subcontractors performing public works for a state agency or
for a locality that has adopted an ordinance described in subsection C shall
post the general prevailing wage rate for each craft and classification
involved, as determined by the Commissioner of Labor and Industry, including the
effective date of any changes thereof, in prominent and easily accessible places
at the site of the work or at any such places as are used by the contractor or
subcontractors to pay workers their wages. Within 10 days of such posting, a
contractor or subcontractor shall certify to the Commissioner of Labor and
Industry its compliance with this subsection.

J. The provisions of this section shall not apply to any public contract for
public works of $250,000 or less.

HISTORY: 2020, cc. 1216, 1243; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, c. 549.