• The Anti-Kickback section of the Copeland Act precludes a contractor or subcontractor from inducing an employee to give up any part of the compensation to which the employee is entitled under contract of employment.
• Any contractor who violates the Act is subject to fines, imprisonment, or both.

The “Anti-Kickback” section of the Copeland Act applies to all contractors and subcontractors performing on any federally funded or assisted contract for the construction, prosecution, completion, or repair of any public building or public work, except contracts for which the only federal assistance is a loan guarantee. This provision applies even where no labor standards statute covers the contract.

The regulations pertaining to the Copeland Act payroll deductions and submittal of the weekly statement of compliance apply only to contractors and subcontractors performing on federally funded contracts in excess of $2,000 and federally assisted contracts in excess of $2,000 that are subject to federal wage standards.

The Anti-Kickback section of the Act precludes a contractor or subcontractor from in any way inducing an employee to give up any part of the compensation to which the employee is entitled under the contract of employment. The Act and implementing regulations require a contractor and subcontractor to submit a weekly statement of the wages paid to each employee performing on covered work during the preceding payroll period. The regulations also list payroll deductions that are permissible without the approval of the Secretary of Labor and those deductions that require consent of the Secretary of Labor.

Employee rights and enforcement

The Anti-Kickback provisions of the Copeland Act give covered workers on subject federal contracts the right to receive the full pay to which they are entitled for the work they perform. The Act also gives such workers the right to receive pay on a weekly basis. The Wage and Hour Division accepts complaints of alleged Copeland Act wage violations.

The Wage and Hour Division enforces the Act and implementing regulations.

Relation to state, local, and other federal laws

The Anti-Kickback provisions apply to any contract assisted in whole or in part by loans or grants from the federal government, except those contracts where the only federal assistance is a loan guarantee. The provisions of the Act and the regulation pertaining to the weekly statement of wages and payroll deductions apply to federally assisted contracts that are subject to federal wage standards.

Penalties/Sanctions

Any contractor or subcontractor who induces an employee working on a covered contract to give up any part of the compensation to which the employee is entitled is subject to a $5,000 fine, or imprisonment for up to five years, or both. Willful falsification of the statement of compliance may subject the employer to civil or criminal prosecution and may be cause for contract termination or debarment.