Services

Information for Government Agencies

Fairness and Consistency. The Oregon Construction Contractors Board, The Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries and the Oregon [and Southwest Washington] Fair Contracting Foundation work together to ensure honesty and consistency in public contracting.

Prevailing wage laws can be complicated. That's where FCF comes in. For the past 10 years we have been educating public agencies about their requirements under the state and federal wage laws. FCF helps ensure your contractors are in compliance to prevent problems for you down the road.

Prevailing wage laws ensure that public works contracts are awarded fairly and that bidders win through efficiency and competence.

Contractors

Responsibilities

The federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act sets standards for administering fringe benefit plans. This law requires employers or plan administrators to:

Set up an account in each worker's name;
Make promised contributions;
Make contributions at least every 90 days;
Provide a Summary Annual Report; and
Provide copies of plan documents that tell workers how to file a claim for benefits, the requirements to qualify for participation and the worker's rights under the law.

FCF is ready to assist with your requests for up-to-date information regarding prevailing wage rates, overtime and apprenticeship standards and classifications. Our goal is to work in partnership with you and provide the information and resources needed to both become and remain compliant with the laws.

Hours and Wages

Contractors are required to provide written notice to employees who perform work on public works projects of the number of hours per day and per week that workers may be required to work. This notice can be provided in one of three ways:

At the time of hire;
Before commencement of work on the project; or
By posting a notice in a location frequented by workers.

Overtime is calculated at not less than one and one-half times the basic hourly rate (Washington only: unless there is an agreement as stipulated in WAC 296-127-022), not including fringe benefits, which are paid at the straight rate for every hour worked. In the computation of overtime, travel pay does not need to be included, but zone pay differentials do.

Wages and benefits

You are required to pay the prevailing wage and benefit due the worker for the classification of work performed.

Overtime

You are required to pay overtime under certain circumstances (which are different in S.W. Washington and Oregon). It is a violation of law to carry a worker's hours to another workweek.

Confidentiality

As a matter of course, contractors who look to FCF for assistance can be assured of the organization's strict confidentiality policy.

Worker Information

It is essential that every worker knows and understands the classification of the work they are doing. Once you know the classification, you can find out what the prevailing wage and benefit is.

Each job classification on a public works project requires payment of a prevailing wage. What your classification was when hired is not important. The work you perform on the job is what matters.

Each job classification requires that certain duties be performed under each classification. If you perform work that falls under a different classification that has a higher prevailing wage, you must be paid the higher wage.

The Fair Contracting Foundation offers assistance for workers who are unsure of their job classification or believe they are being misclassified.