Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act

Scope

Covered contracts include those entered into by the U.S., any agency or instrumentality of the U.S., any territory of the U.S., or the District of Columbia.

Regulatory citations

• None

Key definitions

• None

Summary of requirements

Certain contracts are exempt from the CWHSSA. These include contracts for the following:

• Transportation by land, air, or water.
• Transmission of intelligence.
• Purchase of supplies, materials, or articles ordinarily available in the “open market.”
• Work required to be done according to provisions of the Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act.

Basic provisions/requirements. The CWHSSA:

• Requires contractors and subcontractors with covered contracts to pay laborers and mechanics employed in the performance of the contracts one and one-half times their basic rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a work week.
• Prohibits unsanitary, hazardous, or dangerous working conditions in the construction industry on federal and federally financed and assisted projects.

Employee rights. The CWHSSA provides most workers on federal contracts the right to receive time and one-half for overtime hours worked on such contracts. The Wage and Hour Division accepts complaints of alleged CWHSSA wage violations.

Compliance assistance available. The Wage and Hour Division of the Employment Standards Administration enforces the compensation requirements of this Act, while the Occupational Safety and Health Administration enforces the safety and health requirements. More detailed information, including copies of explanatory brochures and regulatory and interpretative materials, may be obtained by contacting the Wage and Hour Division's local offices (1-866-4USWAGE). Compliance assistance information may also be obtained on the Wage and Hour Division's website at http://www.dol.gov/esa/whd .

Penalties/sanctions. Contractors or subcontractors who violate this Act may be subject to fines, imprisonment, or both. Intentional violations of this Act are misdemeanors and may be punished by a fine not to exceed $1,000 or by imprisonment for not more than six months, or both. Overtime wage violations may result in the assessment of liquidated damages in the sum of $10 for each calendar day an employee is allowed to work in excess of a 40-hour workweek without payment of the required overtime compensation.

Accrued contract amounts may also be withheld in sums necessary to satisfy the liability for unpaid wages and liquidated damages. Employees have rights of action and/or of intervention against the contractor and its sureties if the amounts withheld are insufficient to reimburse the unpaid wages. Under such an action, it is no defense that employees accepted less than the required rate of wages or voluntarily made refunds.

Contractors or subcontractors found to have committed willful or aggravated violations of the overtime requirements may have their contracts terminated and may be declared ineligible to receive future contracts for a period not to exceed three years.

Contractors or subcontractors may challenge determinations of violations before an administrative law judge. Contractors or subcontractors may appeal decisions and orders of administrative law judges that result in payment of wages or debarment to the Administrative Review Board. Final determinations on violations and debarment may be appealed to and are enforceable through the federal courts.

Any contractor or subcontractor aggrieved by withholdings for liquidated damages may appeal to the head of the contracting agency. The agency head shall review the administrative determination and issue a final order. If the damages sum is determined to be incorrect, or the contractor or subcontractor inadvertently violated the provisions of the Act while exercising due care, the agency head may recommend appropriate adjustments in the liquidated damages to the Secretary of Labor. The contractor or subcontractor may file a claim in the U.S. Claims Court for all final orders mandating a liability for withholding of liquidated damages.

Relation to state, local and other federal laws. The provisions of this Act also apply to Davis-Bacon and Related Acts contracts where the contract is financed in whole or in part by grants or loans from the U.S. Government, or loans insured or guaranteed by the U.S. government, except where the federal assistance is only in the nature of a loan guarantee or insurance.

Regulations found in Title 48, Federal Acquisition Regulations System (FAR) also affect the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act. These regulations control the actual contract documents and designate required information that goes into a contract. An example of the language of the FAR is: This subpart prescribes policies and procedures for applying the requirements of the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act (40 U.S.C. 327–333 ) (the Act) to contracts that may require or involve laborers or mechanics. In this subpart, the term laborers or mechanics includes apprentices, trainees, helpers, watchmen, guards, firefighters, fireguards, and workmen who perform services in connection with dredging or rock excavation in rivers or harbors, but does not include any employee employed as a seaman.