THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE BILL

INTRODUCED BY BEAR, TURZAI, SAYLOR, MILLER, AUMENT, BLOOM, BOYD, CAUSER, COX, CREIGHTON, CUTLER, DELOZIER, DENLINGER, EVERETT, GILLESPIE, GINGRICH, GRELL, GROVE, HELM, HENNESSEY, HICKERNELL, KAUFFMAN, MARSICO, METCALFE, MILNE, MOUL, PERRY, PICKETT, RAPP, ROAE, ROCK, ROSS, SCHRODER, SWANGER, TALLMAN, TOEPEL AND VULAKOVICH, JUNE 17, 2011

AS REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND INDUSTRY, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AS AMENDED, OCTOBER 3, 2011   

AN ACT

Amending the act of August 15, 1961 (P.L.987, No.442), entitled

"An act relating to public works contracts; providing for

prevailing wages; imposing duties upon the Secretary of Labor

and Industry; providing remedies, penalties and repealing

existing laws," further providing for definitions and for

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administration; and providing for duties of department.

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The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1.  Sections 2 and 7 of the act of August 15, 1961

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(P.L.987, No.442), known as the Pennsylvania Prevailing Wage

Act, amended August 9, 1963 (P.L.653, No.342), are amended to

read:

Section 1.  Section 2 of the act of August 15, 1961 (P.L.987,

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No.442), known as the Pennsylvania Prevailing Wage Act, amended

August 9, 1963 (P.L.653, No.342), is amended to read:

Section 2.  Definitions.--As used in this act--

"Advisory Board" means the board created by section 2.1 of

this act.

"Appeals Board" means the board created by section 2.2 of

this act.

[(1)]  "Department" means Department of Labor and Industry of

the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

"Federal occupational classifications" means the Occupational

Outlook Handbook of the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics,

published under 40 U.S.C § 3142(b) (relating to rate of wages

for laborers and mechanics).  

[(2)]  "Locality" means any political subdivision, or

combination of the same, within the county in which the public

work is to be performed. When no workmen for which a prevailing

minimum wage is to be determined hereunder are employed in the

locality, the locality may be extended to include adjoining

political subdivisions where such workmen are employed in those

crafts or trades for which there are no workmen employed in the

locality as otherwise herein defined.

[(3)]  "Maintenance work" means the repair of existing

facilities when the size, type or extent of such facilities is

not thereby changed or increased.

[(4)]  "Public body" means the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,

any of its political subdivisions, any authority created by the

General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and any

instrumentality or agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

[(5)]  "Public work" means construction, reconstruction,

demolition, alteration and/or repair work other than maintenance

work, done under contract and paid for in whole or in part out

of the funds of a public body where the estimated cost of the

total project is in excess of twenty-five thousand dollars

($25,000), but shall not include work performed under a

rehabilitation or manpower training program.

[(6)]  "Secretary" means the Secretary of Labor and Industry

or his duly authorized deputy or representative.

[(7)]  "Workman" includes laborer, mechanic, skilled and

semi-skilled laborer and apprentices employed by any contractor

or subcontractor and engaged in the performance of services

directly upon the public work project, regardless of whether

their work becomes a component part thereof, but does not

include material suppliers or their employes who do not perform

services at the job site.

[(8)]  "Work performed under a rehabilitation program," means

work arranged by and at a State institution primarily for

teaching and upgrading the skills and employment opportunities

of the inmates of such institutions.

[(9)  "Advisory Board" means the board created by section 2.1

of this act.

(10)  "Appeals Board" means the board created by section 2.2

of this act.]

Section 7.  Duty of Secretary.--The secretary shall, after

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consultation with the advisory board, determine the general

prevailing minimum wage rate in the locality in which the public

work is to be performed for each craft or classification of all

workmen needed to perform public work contracts during the

anticipated term thereof: Provided, however, That employer and

employe contributions for employe benefits pursuant to a bona

fide collective bargaining agreement shall be considered an

integral part of the wage rate for the purpose of determining

the minimum wage rate under this act. Nothing in this act,

however, shall prohibit the payment of more than the general

prevailing minimum wage rate to any workman employed on public

work. The secretary shall forthwith give notice by mail of all

determinations of general prevailing minimum wage rates made

pursuant to this section to any representative of any craft, any

employer or any representative of any group of employers, who

shall in writing request the secretary so to do. Unless

otherwise authorized by statute, the secretary shall base the

scope of a craft or classification of workmen under this section

on the most recent version of the Federal occupational

classifications, utilizing the description of the craft or

classification in the "nature of work" subsection for each rate

category.

Section 2.  The act is amended by adding a section to read:

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Section 7.1.  Duties of Department.--(a)  The department

shall develop or adopt a complete listing of worker

classifications and their respective definitions, and shall make

the listings available to the public in a conspicuous location

on the department's Internet website. The listing shall, at all

times, be available for public viewing, and shall be maintained

on a Statewide basis for each worker classification. In

developing the list, the department may consider the following

sources:

(1)  collective bargaining agreements;

(2)  Federal occupational classifications;

(3)  input from the advisory board;

(4)  opinions of representatives from organized labor and the

opinions of contractors and contractor associations as they

relate to the custom and usage applicable to the construction

industry in this Commonwealth; and

(5)  any other information that the department deems

pertinent.

The definitions for each classification in this subsection shall

be uniform throughout this Commonwealth.

(b)  Worker classifications as defined by the department at

the time of the beginning of a project shall be used throughout

completion of that project, and shall be controlling for

purposes of any dispute. For purposes of this subsection, the

beginning of a project shall be deemed to be the earlier of the

acceptance of bids or offers or the execution of a contract.

(c)  The department shall publish the complete listing of

worker classifications and their respective definitions, as

required in subsection (a) within one hundred eighty days after

the effective date of this section, provided that after the

initial work descriptions are published, the department may

change the descriptions from time to time in accordance with the

criteria in subsection (a).

Section 2 3.  This act shall take effect in 60 days.

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