CORRECTIVE REPRINT
PRIOR PRINTER'S NO. 1988 PRINTER'S NO. 2366
No. 1660 Session of 1989
INTRODUCED BY GIGLIOTTI, VEON, DeWEESE, TANGRETTI, COLAIZZO,
WAMBACH, ROBINSON, PISTELLA, KOSINSKI, HALUSKA, McNALLY,
MORRIS, TRELLO, MELIO, PETRONE, TRICH, WOZNIAK, LaGROTTA,
COLAFELLA, LAUGHLIN, DeLUCA, COWELL, OLASZ, PESCI, PRESSMANN,
CAPPABIANCA, SCRIMENTI, FREEMAN, STISH, TELEK, KONDRICH AND
KAISER, JUNE 7, 1989
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, JUNE 7, 1989
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of August 15, 1961 (P.L.987, No.442), entitled
2 "An act relating to public works contracts; providing for
3 prevailing wages; imposing duties upon the Secretary of Labor
4 and Industry; providing remedies, penalties and repealing
5 existing laws," defining "financing"; making amendments to
6 conform with these definitional amendments; specifying duties
7 of certain officers of public bodies; adding criminal and
8 civil remedies; and changing certain time limitations.
9 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
10 hereby enacts as follows:
11 Section 1. Section 2(4) and (5) of the act of August 15,
12 1961 (P.L.987, No.442), known as the Pennsylvania Prevailing
13 Wage Act, amended August 9, 1963 (P.L.653, No.342), are amended
14 and the section is amended by adding a clause to read:
15 Section 2. Definitions.--As used in this act--
16 * * *
17 (4) "Public body" means the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,
18 any of its political subdivisions, any authority created by the
1 General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or created
2 by the legislative body of any of its political subdivisions and
3 any instrumentality or agency of the Commonwealth of
4 Pennsylvania or any of its political subdivisions, including any
5 industrial development authority.
6 (5) "Public work" means construction, reconstruction,
7 demolition, alteration [and/or], repair [work other than] and
8 maintenance work, done under contract and paid for in whole or
9 in part out of the funds of a public body or financed in whole
10 or in part by a public body where the estimated cost of the
11 total project is in excess of twenty-five thousand dollars
12 ($25,000), but shall not include work performed under a
13 rehabilitation [or manpower] training program. When a project is
14 to be constructed, reconstructed, altered, repaired or
15 maintained by a nonpublic body as a condition of a contract for
16 the eventual purchase or lease of a project by a public body, or
17 by an entity wholly or partially financed by a public body, such
18 construction, reconstruction, alteration, repairs or maintenance
19 shall be public work. The fact that a public body may wholly or
20 partially pay or finance a project to or through intermediary
21 agencies, bodies, corporations or other entities shall not
22 prevent a project which otherwise would qualify as a public work
23 from being a public work.
24 * * *
25 (11) "Financing" includes the supply of money, credit or
26 capital, as for example, in the case of a loan, grant, guaranty
27 or surety.
28 Section 2. Sections 3 and 4 of the act, amended August 9,
29 1963 (P.L.653, No.342), are amended to read:
30 Section 3. Specifications.--The specifications for every
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1 contract for any public work [to which any public body is a
2 party,] shall contain a provision stating the minimum wage rate
3 that must be paid to the workmen employed in the performance of
4 the contract.
5 Section 4. Duty of Public Body.--It shall be the duty of the
6 chief executive officer and the treasurer, fiscal or financial
7 officer of every public body which proposes the making or
8 financing of a contract for any project of public work to
9 determine from the secretary the prevailing minimum wage rates
10 which shall be paid by the contractor to the workmen upon such
11 project. Reference to such prevailing minimum rates shall be
12 published at the direction of the chief executive officer and
13 the treasurer, fiscal or financial officer of the public body,
14 in the notice issued for the purpose of securing bids for such
15 project of public work. Whenever any contract for a project of
16 public work is entered into, the prevailing minimum wages as
17 determined by the secretary shall be incorporated into and made
18 a part of such contract and shall not be altered during the
19 period such contract is in force. Whenever any contract for a
20 project of public work is financed by a public body, it shall be
21 the duty of the chief executive officer and the treasurer,
22 fiscal or financial officer of the public body to include in the
23 financing agreement the requirement that the prevailing minimum
24 wages as determined by the secretary shall be incorporated into
25 and made a part of the contract for the project of public work
26 and shall not be altered during the period such contract is in
27 effect.
28 Section 3. Section 6 of the act is amended to read:
29 Section 6. Duty of Contractor.--Every contractor and
30 subcontractor shall keep an accurate record showing the name,
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1 craft and the actual hourly rate of wage paid to each workman
2 employed by him in connection with public work, and such record
3 shall be preserved for two years from date of payment. The
4 record shall be open at all reasonable hours to the inspection
5 of the public body awarding or financing the contract and to the
6 secretary.
7 Section 4. Section 8 of the act, amended August 9, 1963
8 (P.L.653, No.342), is amended to read:
9 Section 8. Review of Rates, Petition and Hearing.--Any
10 prospective bidder or his representative, any representative of
11 any group of employers engaged in the particular type of
12 construction, reconstruction, alteration and demolition [or],
13 repair or maintenance work involved, any representative of any
14 craft or classification of workmen or the public body may,
15 within ten days after the publication and issue of the
16 specifications covering the particular contract for public work
17 involved, file with the secretary a verified petition to review
18 the determination of any such rate or rates. Within two days
19 thereafter a copy of such petition shall be filed with the
20 public body authorizing or financing the public work. The
21 petition shall set forth the facts upon which it is based. The
22 secretary shall, upon notice to the petitioner, the public body
23 authorizing or financing the public work and the recognized
24 collective bargaining representatives for the particular crafts
25 and classifications involved, and also to all persons entitled
26 to receive notice pursuant to subsection (a) of section 7
27 hereof, institute an investigation and hold a public hearing
28 within twenty days after the filing of such petition. Within ten
29 days thereafter, the secretary shall make a determination and
30 transmit it, in writing, to the public body and to the
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1 interested parties. Such determination shall be final unless
2 within ten days an appeal is filed with the Appeals Board.
3 Upon receipt by the public body of the notice of the filing
4 of such petition, the public body awarding or financing the
5 contract or authorizing or financing the public work shall
6 extend the closing date for the submission of bids until five
7 days after the final determination of the general prevailing
8 minimum wage rates pursuant to this section and the publication
9 of such findings.
10 Upon the filing of any such petition, notice thereof and of
11 the extension of the closing date for submission of bids, shall
12 be given forthwith by the awarding or financing public body in a
13 special bulletin to all interested parties as defined herein,
14 notice shall also be given to the bidders by the awarding or
15 financing public body of the final determination of the
16 secretary or Appeals Board which shall also be included in the
17 contract. The determination of the secretary or Appeals Board
18 shall be included in the contract.
19 Section 5. Sections 9 and 10(a) and (b) of the act are
20 amended to read:
21 Section 9. Posting of Rates.--Contractors and sub-
22 contractors performing public work [for a public body] subject
23 to the provisions of this act shall post the general prevailing
24 minimum wage rates for each craft and classification involved,
25 as determined by the secretary, including the effective date of
26 any changes thereof, in prominent and easily accessible places
27 at the site of the work, or at such place or places as are used
28 by them to pay workmen their wages.
29 Section 10. Duty of Public Body.--(a) Before final payment
30 is made by, or on behalf of or with the financial assistance of
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1 any public body of any sum or sums due on public work, it shall
2 be the duty of the treasurer of the public body or other officer
3 or person charged with the custody and disbursement of the funds
4 of the public body to require the contractor and subcontractor
5 to file statements, in writing, in form satisfactory to the
6 secretary, certifying to the amounts then due and owing from
7 such contractor and subcontractor, filing such statement to any
8 and all workmen for wages due on account of public work, setting
9 forth therein the names of the persons whose wages are unpaid
10 and the amount due to each respectively, which statement so to
11 be filed shall be verified by the oath of the contractor and
12 subcontractor, as the case may be, that he has read such
13 statement subscribed by him, knows the contents thereof and that
14 the same is true of his own knowledge: Provided, nevertheless,
15 That nothing herein shall impair the right of a contractor to
16 receive final payment because of the failure of any
17 subcontractor to comply with provisions of this act.
18 (b) In case any workman shall have filed a protest, in
19 writing, within [three] six months from the date of the
20 occurrence of the incident complained of, with the secretary,
21 objecting to the payment to any contractor to the extent of the
22 amount or amounts due or to become due to the said workman for
23 wages or for labors performed on public works, the secretary
24 shall direct the fiscal or financial officer of the public body,
25 or other person charged with the custody and disbursements of
26 the funds of the public body, to deduct from the whole amount of
27 any payment on account thereof the sum or sums admitted by any
28 contractor in such statement or statements so filed, to be due
29 and owing by him on account of wages earned on such public work
30 before making payment of the amount certified for payment and
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1 may withhold the amount so deducted for the benefit of the
2 workmen whose wages are unpaid, as shown by the verified
3 statement filed by any contractor, and may pay directly to any
4 workmen the amount shown to be due to him for such wages by the
5 statements filed as hereinbefore required, thereby discharging
6 the obligation of the contractor to the person receiving such
7 payment to the extent of the amount thereof.
8 * * *
9 Section 6. Section 11(a) of the act is amended and the
10 section is amended by adding subsections to read:
11 Section 11. Remedies and Penalties.--(a) The fiscal or
12 financial officer[, or] of any public body having public work
13 performed under which any workman shall have been paid less than
14 the prevailing wage, shall forthwith notify the secretary, in
15 writing, of the name of the person or firm failing to pay the
16 prevailing wages.
17 * * *
18 (i) Any chief executive officer, treasurer or financial
19 officer of any public body who shall wilfully, intentionally,
20 recklessly or negligently fail to fulfill any of his duties and
21 responsibilities under this act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor
22 of the third degree, and shall, upon conviction, be sentenced to
23 pay a fine of not exceeding two thousand five hundred dollars
24 ($2,500) or to undergo imprisonment not exceeding one year, or
25 both.
26 (j) Whenever workmen have not received prevailing wages
27 wholly or partly because of the failure of the public body, its
28 chief executive officer or treasurer, fiscal or financial
29 officer to fulfill its or their duties and responsibilities
30 under this act, then the public body shall be liable for and
19890H1660B2366 - 7 -
1 shall pay to the aggrieved workmen an amount equal to the
2 difference between the wages which they received and the
3 prevailing wages to which they were entitled.
4 Section 7. Section 13 of the act is amended to read:
5 Section 13. Workmen's Rights.--Any workmen paid less than
6 the rates specified in the contract shall have a right of action
7 for the difference between the wage so paid and the wages
8 stipulated in the contract, which right of action shall be
9 instituted within [six] twelve months from the occurrence of the
10 event creating such right.
11 Section 8. This act shall take effect immediately.
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