• The Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act (PCA) applies to contractors with contracts in excess of $10,000 for the manufacturing or furnishing of materials, supplies, articles, or equipment to the U.S. government or the District of Columbia.
• PCA provides employees under federal contract the right to be paid at least minimum wage for all hours worked, and time and a half for overtime.

The Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act (PCA) applies to contractors with contracts in excess of $10,000 for the manufacturing or furnishing of materials, supplies, articles, or equipment to the U.S. government or the District of Columbia. The Act covers employees who produce, assemble, handle, or ship goods under these contracts.

The Act does not apply to executive, administrative, and professional employees, or to outside salespersons exempt from the minimum wage and overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, nor does it apply to certain office and custodial workers.

Certain contracts are not covered by this Act. They include:

• Purchases of materials, supplies, articles, or equipment as may usually be bought in the “open market.”
• Purchases of perishables.
• Purchases of agricultural products from the original producers.
• Contracts made by the Secretary of Agriculture for the purchase of agricultural commodities or products.
• Contracts for public utility services and certain transportation and communication services.
• Supplies manufactured outside the U.S. (including Puerto Rico) or the Virgin Islands.

The PCA provides employees on covered federal contracts the right to be paid at least the minimum wage for all hours worked and time and one half their regular rate of pay for overtime hours. The Wage and Hour Division accepts complaints of alleged PCA violations.

The employers may pay special lower rates to apprentices, students in vocational education programs, and disabled workers only if they obtain special certificates from the Department of Labor.

The Act prohibits the employment of youths less than 16 years of age and convicts, except under certain conditions. Convicts do not include persons paroled, pardoned, or discharged from prison, or prisoners participating in a work-release program. It is also unlawful to carry out the contract work under working conditions that are unsanitary, hazardous, or dangerous to the health and safety of employees.

Administration and enforcement of these laws are by the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division. The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) administers and enforces three federal contract-based civil rights laws that require most federal contractors and subcontractors, as well as federally assisted construction contractors, to provide equal employment opportunity. The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management’s (OASAM) Civil Rights Center administers and enforces several federal assistance-based civil rights laws requiring recipients of federal financial assistance from Department of Labor to provide equal opportunity.