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The Davis-Bacon Act and the prevailing wage provisions of the related statutes gave the Secretary of Labor the authority to predetermine, as minimum wages, those wage rates found to be prevailing for corresponding classes of laborers and mechanics employed on projects of a character similar to the contract work in the area in which the work is to be performed. These additional wages are called “fringe benefits.”
Fringe benefits apply to all employees, including contractors and business partners.
The 1964 amendments to the Davis-Bacon Act require, among other things, that the prevailing wage determined for Federal and federally-assisted construction include:
The Act lists all types of fringe benefits that the Congress considered to be common in the construction industry as a whole. These include the following:
The term “other bona fide fringe benefits” is the so-called “open end” provision. This was included so that new fringe benefits may be recognized by the Secretary of Labor as they become prevailing. It was pointed out that a particular fringe benefit need not be recognized beyond a particular area in order for the Secretary to find that it is prevailing in that area.