Idaho Prevailing Wage: Davis-Bacon Rates, Payroll, and Penalties

Idaho has no state prevailing wage law. State law actually goes further and bars Idaho and its local governments from setting any wage floor on public construction projects. Federal rules are the exception: if a construction job in Idaho is paid for in whole or part with federal money, the Davis-Bacon Act and its related statutes require contractors to pay the locally prevailing wage for each trade. So the Idaho prevailing wage question almost always comes down to one thing — where the funding originates.

What Idaho Law Says About Public Works Wages

Idaho Code Section 44-2013, the Open Access to Work Act, prohibits the state and every political subdivision from requiring contractors on public works projects to pay predetermined wage rates or provide specific employee benefits.¹ Political subdivisions include counties, cities, school districts, fire districts, sewer districts, and any other taxing body. The same statute bars requiring contractors to enter project labor agreements or collective bargaining agreements as a condition of bidding or performing public work.

The statute carves out one exception. When federal law requires prevailing or minimum wages on a project funded in whole or in part with federal money, those federal requirements still control.¹ On purely state- or locally funded construction, pay rates are whatever the contractor and worker agree to. On federally assisted work — a federal-aid road in Boise, a federally funded water plant in Pocatello — federal pay rules apply.

When Davis-Bacon Applies in Idaho

The Davis-Bacon Act requires contractors on federal construction contracts worth more than $2,000 to pay workers at least the locally prevailing wage for their trade.² The law covers construction, alteration, and repair of public buildings and public works where the federal government is a contracting party. Dozens of “Related Acts” extend the same wage requirements to projects that receive federal money through grants, loans, loan guarantees, or insurance.³ The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division sets the rates and enforces compliance.

Common triggers for Idaho projects include:

Federal-aid highway construction, which falls under 23 U.S.C. § 113 regardless of the specific funding source.⁴
Public housing contracts under the U.S. Housing Act of 1937, including developments of nine or more units receiving housing assistance.⁵
Water treatment plants, airports, schools, and other public facilities built or renovated with federal grants or loans.

Even partial federal funding usually pulls the entire contract under Davis-Bacon coverage.

How to Find the Wage Rate for a Specific Project

Each covered project has a wage determination that lists minimum hourly rates and fringe benefit amounts for every trade. The Department of Labor publishes these on SAM.gov, searchable by state, county, and construction type: building, highway, heavy, or residential.⁶ General determinations cover broad areas and categories; project-specific determinations are issued when no general one fits.

A typical determination breaks out classifications such as carpenter, electrician, ironworker, plumber, and laborer, with a base hourly rate and a separate fringe rate for each. Under Davis-Bacon, prevailing wages include both basic hourly pay and fringe benefits like health insurance, pension contributions, vacation pay, and apprenticeship training fund contributions.⁷ A contractor can satisfy the fringe obligation by paying into bona fide benefit plans, paying the fringe amount as additional cash wages, or combining both.

Classification matters. If a worker’s actual duties don’t match the classification they’re paid under, that’s a violation even if total pay is high enough. A worker who performs duties across multiple trades in a single day must be paid the applicable rate for each classification of work performed.

Apprentice Rates

Contractors can pay apprentices below the full prevailing wage, but only if the apprentice is individually registered in a program approved by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration or a recognized State Apprenticeship Agency.⁸ An unregistered apprentice must be paid the full journeyworker rate for the work being performed.

The apprentice wage is a percentage of the journeyworker rate based on the apprentice’s progression level. Fringe benefits follow the terms of the apprenticeship program; if the program is silent, the apprentice gets the full fringe amount from the wage determination. Contractors must also respect the allowable apprentice-to-journeyworker ratio in the registered program, and compliance is measured daily, not weekly. Extra apprentices beyond the ratio must be paid the full prevailing rate.⁸ On federal-aid highway projects, apprentices in programs certified by the U.S. Department of Transportation may also qualify for reduced rates.

Overtime

The Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act requires contractors on most federally funded construction projects to pay overtime at one and a half times the basic rate for every hour worked beyond 40 in a workweek.⁹ This runs on top of the prevailing wage. A worker whose prevailing base rate is $30 per hour is owed at least $45 per hour for overtime.

Certified Payroll Requirements

Every contractor and subcontractor on a covered project must submit certified payroll records weekly for each week Davis-Bacon work is performed.¹⁰ Records go to the contracting federal agency, or on assisted projects to the entity that transmits them to the agency. The prime contractor is responsible for making sure every subcontractor’s payrolls are filed.

Each payroll lists the worker’s name, an identifying number, classification, hours worked each day, hourly rate, and gross earnings. The submission includes a signed statement of compliance certifying the payroll is accurate and that every worker received at least the required prevailing wage.¹¹ Form WH-347 is the standard format but is technically optional; any format with the required information works.¹⁰ Records must be kept at least three years after the prime contract work is completed.

Penalties for Underpayment

The contracting agency can withhold funds from a contractor’s accrued payments to cover unpaid wages, and those withheld funds have priority over competing claims, including performance bond sureties.¹² The agency can also suspend further payments until violations are corrected. For aggravated or willful violations, a contractor faces debarment from all federally funded contracts for up to three years.¹³ The prime contractor is ultimately liable for back wages owed by any subcontractor at any tier, which gives generals a strong incentive to watch their subs.

Reporting Underpayment and Protection From Retaliation

Federal law prohibits retaliation against a worker who files a complaint, cooperates with an investigation, requests proper payment, or informs coworkers about their prevailing wage rights. Complaints made by a third party on a worker’s behalf are also protected.¹⁴ A contractor who retaliates faces enforcement action and potential debarment.

Workers who believe they’ve been underpaid on a federally funded project in Idaho can file a confidential complaint with the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division at 1-866-487-9243. The agency does not disclose the complainant’s name or whether a complaint exists. Because Idaho runs no state prevailing wage program, the federal Wage and Hour Division is the only enforcement body for these wage requirements in the state.

1
Idaho State Legislature. Idaho Code Section 44-2013 – Public Works — Wages
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 40 USC 3142 – Rate of Wages for Laborers and Mechanics
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 40 USC 3141-3142 – Wage Rate Requirements
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 23 USC 113 – Prevailing Rate of Wage
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 1437j – Labor Standards and Community Service Requirement
6
Acquisition.GOV. 48 CFR 22.404-1 – Types of Wage Determinations
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 40 US Code 3141 – Definitions
8
U.S. Department of Labor. Davis-Bacon Compliance Principles
9
Acquisition.GOV. 52.222-4 Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards – Overtime
10
eCFR. 29 CFR 5.5 – Contract Provisions and Related Matters
11
U.S. Department of Labor. Instructions for Completing Davis-Bacon and Related Acts Weekly Certified Payroll Form, WH-347
12
U.S. Department of Labor. Investigative Procedures and Remedies on Davis-Bacon Contracts
13
eCFR. 29 CFR Part 5 – Labor Standards Provisions Applicable to Contracts Covering Federally Financed and Assisted Construction
14
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 66 – The Davis-Bacon and Related Acts (DBRA)