New York Prevailing Wage Laws: Rates, Claims, and Penalties

New York prevailing wage laws require contractors on public works projects, and on certain privately owned projects that receive public funding or tax benefits, to pay workers no less than the hourly wage and supplement rate set for their trade in the county where the work is performed. The rates come from the New York State Department of Labor for projects statewide and from the New York City Comptroller for work in the five boroughs. Workers paid less than the schedule requires can recover the shortfall with interest, and contractors who underpay face civil penalties and, in serious cases, a five-year ban from public work.

Which Projects Are Covered

Labor Law Section 220 applies whenever the state, a municipal corporation, or a public benefit corporation is a party to a construction contract involving laborers, workers, or mechanics. It also reaches third parties performing work on behalf of a public entity under a lease, permit, or similar agreement.¹ Highway construction, building renovations, bridge repairs, utility installation, and infrastructure work all fall within its scope. The question is whether a public agency is behind the contract or the funding, not whether the work happens on government-owned land.

Privately owned projects can be pulled in the same way. Developments that receive certain tax exemptions, state grants, or low-interest public loans may be treated as public work for wage purposes. Building service employees in residential buildings that received tax benefits under Real Property Tax Law Section 421-a, for example, must be paid at rates published by the NYC Comptroller.²

Building Service Contracts

A separate track under Article 9 covers building service employees. Section 230 defines these workers as people performing care or maintenance of existing buildings, transporting office furniture, or delivering fossil fuel to buildings under a contract with a public agency worth more than $1,500.³ Janitors, security guards, window cleaners, and elevator operators are typical examples. The $1,500 threshold is low enough that most ongoing service contracts with government agencies trigger prevailing wage rules.

How the Rates Are Set

The New York State Department of Labor publishes prevailing wage schedules county by county, with separate schedules for general construction and residential construction.⁴ The NYC Comptroller publishes its own schedules for the five boroughs, with separate listings for construction workers, building service employees, and apprentices.⁵ State schedules run from July 1 through June 30, with monthly corrections posted on the first business day of the month.

Rates are derived from compensation negotiated in collective bargaining agreements between unions and private-sector employers who employ at least 30 percent of workers in that trade in that locality.¹ A plumber in Albany has a different rate than an electrician in Suffolk County, and both differ from what those trades earn in Manhattan. Match the schedule to the exact county where the work is performed and to the correct trade classification.

Base Wage and Supplements

Every rate has two parts: a base hourly wage and a supplement. The statute defines supplements as all non-cash remuneration, including health and welfare benefits, pension contributions, vacation and holiday pay, life insurance, disability benefits, and apprenticeship training costs.¹ Employers can meet the supplement obligation either by providing the actual benefits through qualifying plans or by paying the equivalent amount in cash to the worker. Either way, the worker must receive the full economic value listed on the schedule.

Cash paid in lieu of benefits is taxable. The IRS treats it as supplemental wages, subject to a flat 22 percent federal withholding rate, rising to 37 percent once supplemental wages exceed $1 million in a calendar year.⁶ Workers taking supplements as cash should expect smaller net checks than workers receiving equivalent value through an employer plan.

Hours and Overtime

Section 220 caps the public works schedule at eight hours per day and five days per week. Anything beyond those limits requires an emergency dispensation, and the excess hours must be paid at the overtime premium prevailing in the area.¹ The prevailing overtime rate is typically 1.5 times the base wage. A narrow exception lets highway workers outside city and village limits make up bad-weather days during the same week or the following three weeks without triggering overtime; it does not apply to building construction.

Contractor Registry and Recordkeeping

Before bidding on any public work contract, a contractor must be registered with the Department of Labor under Section 220-i, and subcontractors must be registered before starting work.⁷ On privately owned projects that fall under prevailing wage rules, the developer or owner is responsible for confirming registration before work begins.⁸ Knowingly bidding while unregistered, or letting an unregistered contractor start work, carries a civil penalty of up to $1,000 per violation. A pending application is not a certificate.

Contractors and subcontractors must maintain accurate payroll records showing every worker’s hours, wages, and supplements. As of December 31, 2025, all contractors on Article 8 projects must submit certified payroll records electronically through the Department of Labor’s online portal.⁹ The applicable wage schedule must be posted at the job site, and the correct rate must appear on every pay stub. Willful failure to file payroll records carries a penalty of up to $1,000 per day.¹

Filing a Prevailing Wage Claim

Gather Your Records First

Before filing, pull together pay stubs, personal logs of hours (with start and end times), the job site address, and the names of the prime contractor and the public agency behind the project. Keep any benefits handbook or enrollment documents too, since supplement shortfalls are just as actionable as base wage shortfalls. Then compare your gross hourly rate to the schedule for your trade, county, and time period. If your hourly wage plus benefits received falls below the total listed, you have a potential claim.

Claims for Projects Outside New York City

The state Department of Labor’s Form PW-4 is the standard claim document for wage or supplement underpayments on public work.¹⁰ The form asks for your trade classification so the Department can match your work against the correct rate. Submit the completed form to the nearest Bureau of Public Work district office.¹¹ Third parties who witness violations can file separately using Form PW-5.

Claims for NYC Projects

For work in the five boroughs, the NYC Comptroller’s Bureau of Labor Law handles prevailing wage complaints. The Comptroller offers an online complaint form covering your personal information, employment details, job site addresses, hourly rate, and a statement of the violation, and complaints can also come in by mail.¹² Immigration status does not affect your right to prevailing wages, and the Comptroller’s Office will not disclose your identity to your employer without your consent.

What Happens Next

An investigator contacts the worker to confirm the details and audits the contractor’s certified payroll records. If underpayments turn up, the agency can withhold funds owed to the contractor under the public contract and redirect them to workers. Investigations can take several months to over a year depending on the project’s complexity and the employer’s cooperation.

Back Pay, Interest, and Penalties

When a fiscal officer finds underpayment, the order directs payment of all wages and supplements owed plus interest. The interest rate tracks the rate set by the Superintendent of Financial Services under Section 14-a of the Banking Law, so it fluctuates.¹³ Interest runs from the date of the underpayment through the date of payment.

On top of back wages and interest, the fiscal officer can impose a civil penalty of up to 25 percent of the total amount found due. The size is calibrated to the size of the employer’s business, whether the violation was in good faith, the seriousness of the shortfall, and the contractor’s history of prior violations.¹³

Debarment

Two final determinations of willful underpayment within any six-year period trigger debarment. The contractor, its partners, officers who participated in the violation, and shareholders controlling at least 10 percent of the company’s stock become ineligible to bid on or receive any public work contract in New York for five years from the second determination.¹³ The ban extends to substantially owned affiliates and successor companies, so reorganizing under a new name will not dodge it.

If either violation involves falsifying payroll records or kicking back wages, the five-year ban starts after the first final determination rather than the second.¹³

Federally Funded Projects

When a New York construction project receives federal funding, the federal Davis-Bacon Act may apply alongside state rules. Davis-Bacon covers federally funded or assisted construction contracts exceeding $2,000.¹⁴ On dual-funded work, contractors must pay whichever rate is higher for each trade classification, so check both the state schedule and the federal wage determination for the project’s location.

Retaliation Is Illegal

Section 15(a)(3) of the Fair Labor Standards Act bars employers from firing or retaliating against any employee who files a complaint, participates in an investigation, or testifies in a proceeding related to wage violations. The protection covers oral and written complaints, including internal complaints to the employer, and extends to former employees.¹⁵

A worker who faces retaliation can file with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division or bring a private lawsuit. Available remedies include reinstatement, lost wages, and an equal amount in liquidated damages.¹⁵ An employer that retaliates creates a second, separate liability on top of the underlying wage claim.

1
New York State Senate. New York Labor Law 220 – Hours, Wages and Supplements
2
Office of the Comptroller, City of New York. Building Service Employee Prevailing Wage Schedule
3
New York State Senate. New York Labor Law 230 – Definitions
4
New York State Department of Labor. Prevailing Wage
5
Office of the New York City Comptroller. Wage Schedules
6
Internal Revenue Service. Employer’s Tax Guide to Fringe Benefits
7
New York State Department of Labor. Frequently Asked Questions for NYSDOL Contractor Registry
8
New York State Senate. New York Labor Law 220-I – Registration System for Contractors
9
New York State Department of Labor. Bureau of Public Work and Prevailing Wage Enforcement
10
New York State Department of Labor. Claim for Wage and/or Supplement Underpayment on a Public Work Project
11
New York State Department of Labor. File a Complaint
12
Office of the New York City Comptroller. File a Complaint
13
New York State Senate. New York Labor Law 220-B – Amounts Due for Wages and Supplements
14
U.S. Department of Labor. Davis-Bacon and Related Acts
15
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 77A – Prohibiting Retaliation Under the Fair Labor Standards Act