US Department of Labor to host conferences on prevailing wage requirements for federal contracts in areas impacted by Hurricane Sandy

Conferences to be held in New York and New Jersey

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division today announced that it will host two conferences in areas impacted by Hurricane Sandy to provide information and training on the rules concerning prevailing wage requirements under the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts and the Service Contract Act. The conferences are a key component of the Wage and Hour Division's efforts to increase compliance with federal prevailing wage requirements.

DBRA requires contractors and subcontractors performing work on federal and certain federally funded projects to pay their laborers and mechanics the locally prevailing wage rates and benefits, as determined by the secretary of labor. On a DBRA-covered project, the prime contractor is responsible for the compliance of all subcontractors. The SCA generally applies to federally funded cleanup activities following a disaster.

"The Wage and Hour Division is committed to ensuring that with the billions of dollars invested in the cleanup and rebuilding efforts that everyone — contractors, contracting officials, unions, workers and other stakeholders — understand and comply with all applicable laws," said Laura Fortman, deputy administrator of the Wage and Hour Division. "We are pleased that we can provide hands-on training to the contracting community."

The conferences are scheduled as follows:

• Long Island, N.Y., June 20-21
• Atlantic City, N.J., June 26-27

To attend one of the conferences, send an email to whdpwc@dol.gov that includes the participant's name, title, organization and email address, as well as the location of the conference. There is no fee for attending; however, space is limited. A Labor Department representative will advise whether requests can be accommodated.

For more information regarding the upcoming prevailing wage conferences, visit www.dol.gov/whd/govcontracts/ or call the Wage and Hour Division's toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243).