How Does Prevailing Wage Work?
Hello! I am trying to find some validation, or correction from some of you lovely payroll experts who are familiar with prevailing wage jobs.
I am just an Admin myself, but I've done a few years of Construction Contracting where most of our jobs were subject to David Bacon, some had Union requirements, and some had both. It's my understanding that David Bacon/prevailing wage compliance requirements are completely separate from Union reporting. The complicated, certified payroll documents one has to submit for prevailing wage requirements has nothing to do with your employees' Union affiliations, and the Union won't submit anything related to prevailing wage to whoever is supposed to get it on your behalf. It's 100% the employer's responsibility to comply with local and federal prevailing wage regulations.
I currently work for a Civil Engineer, and I noticed we had a contract with prevailing wage requirements. I raised the flag on this because we do have a Surveyor on payroll, and I knew he'd be used. I was told by basically EVERYONE in the office, from Project Managers who have been doing this work for 30 years, to our Accounting department that they just have to submit this Surveyor's payroll to the Union. They take care of everything. Literally have had multiple Engineers tell me prevailing wage is just a law to make sure people get paid Union wages.
I am 99% sure that is incorrect based on my past experience, but I seem to be the only person in the entire company who is aware of this. Googling the laws and trying to comprehend them also makes me pretty certain I'm right, but I'm feeling gaslit at this point with how insistent these people are. I would greatly appreciate if an expert here could let me know if I'm the wrong one here, or if I should keep raising this flag until someone finally listens?
Thank you, all! And thank you for making sure the rest of us get paid!