PA Prevailing Wage Determination: Request, Payroll, and Penalties

A Pennsylvania prevailing wage determination is the official schedule of minimum hourly wages and fringe benefit rates that the Secretary of Labor and Industry issues for a specific publicly funded construction project, and the public body awarding the contract must obtain it from the Bureau of Labor Law Compliance before advertising for bids. Once issued, the schedule is written into the contract and cannot be changed while the contract is in force.¹

When a Determination Is Required

Three conditions trigger the Prevailing Wage Act. The work has to be construction, reconstruction, demolition, alteration, or repair; it has to be performed under contract and paid for in whole or in part with public funds; and the estimated total cost has to exceed $25,000. The awarding “public body” can be the Commonwealth, a county or municipality, a school district, or an authority or agency created by the General Assembly.²

Several kinds of work fall outside the Act. Routine maintenance that does not change the size, type, or extent of an existing facility is excluded. So is work performed under a rehabilitation or job-training program at a state institution. Projects covered by the federal Davis-Bacon Act or the Walsh-Healey Act are exempt from Pennsylvania’s requirements, so a federally funded job uses the federal wage schedule rather than both.¹

Information to Gather Before Requesting Rates

The Department of Labor and Industry needs specific project details to produce an accurate schedule. Assemble the exact location by county and municipality, a description of the work, the estimated total cost, the planned bid and construction dates, and the type of construction. Building construction and heavy highway work draw from different rate schedules, so misclassifying the project type produces the wrong numbers.³

Errors in the project description or cost estimate can lead to the wrong worker classifications being assigned, which is difficult and slow to fix once contractors are bidding.

How to Submit the Request

The Prevailing Wage Rates Determination Request is filed electronically through the Department’s online portal.⁴ The system issues a tracking number for status checks, and the Bureau of Labor Law Compliance delivers the completed determination electronically.

The Act requires the public body to obtain the rates from the Secretary before soliciting bids and to reference those rates in the bid notice.¹ Advertising bids without a determination in hand creates a compliance problem that can delay or invalidate the procurement.

What the Determination Contains

The determination lists every worker classification the project needs, from carpenters and electricians to laborers and equipment operators. Each classification carries a specific hourly wage and a separate fringe benefit rate; the sum is the minimum the contractor must pay for that trade. Employer and employee contributions for benefits under a collective bargaining agreement count toward the total, so the number reflects both cash pay and the value of health and retirement benefits.¹

If the Secretary has scheduled wage increases for a trade during the project’s expected duration, the schedule includes those predetermined adjustments and their effective dates. Each determination also carries a project serial number and issuance date that tie it to the specific contract. Contractors are free to pay more than the listed rate.

Contract, Posting, and Payment Duties

Once the determination arrives, the rates must be incorporated into the contract and cannot be changed while the contract is in force. The contract must also require the contractor to insert the same wage provisions into every subcontract, pushing the obligation down to every tier of workers on the job.⁵

The contractor and every subcontractor must post the wage determination in a prominent, easily accessible location at the job site and wherever workers are paid. The posted notice includes the project name, the public body’s name, all listed crafts and classifications, and the wage rate for each, and stays up for the full duration of construction.⁶

Workers must be paid at least weekly, with no deductions or rebates beyond those authorized by law. A contractor who is not a party to a collective bargaining agreement, but whose determination includes a fringe benefit rate, must pay the monetary equivalent of those benefits directly to the worker in cash. Lump-sum or piece-rate pay is treated as a violation even if the averaged hourly earnings would have met the prevailing rate.⁷ If a worker performs tasks under more than one classification in a pay period, hours must be tracked separately and paid at each applicable rate; averaging is not allowed.

Certified Payroll and Records

Contractors and subcontractors submit certified payroll reports to the public body every week. Each report is a sworn statement that workers were paid the prevailing rates specified in the contract, and a final certified payroll statement is due when the work concludes.⁸

Beyond the weekly filings, contractors must keep detailed records for each worker: name, craft or classification, daily hours, hourly wage including benefits, and all deductions. Timecards for every worker and signed indentures for every apprentice belong in the same file. Records must be kept for at least two years and produced on request to Labor and Industry or the awarding public body.⁹

Falsifying a certified payroll is a misdemeanor. A contractor or subcontractor who swears to a false statement can face a fine of up to $2,500, imprisonment of up to five years, or both.¹

Apprentices and Unlisted Classifications

Apprentices can work on a prevailing wage project only if they are properly registered. Contractors must keep signed apprenticeship indentures and approvals from the Pennsylvania Apprenticeship and Training Council for each apprentice on site.⁹ A worker who is not in an approved program cannot be paid the apprentice rate and must be classified and paid as a journeyman at the full prevailing wage.

Contractors also cannot employ workers in a classification that isn’t listed on the Secretary’s determination. If the project needs a classification the determination doesn’t include, the contractor must petition for a review under the regulatory procedure rather than fitting the worker into an unlisted trade.⁵

Challenging a Rate

Any interested party who believes a rate is incorrect can appeal to the Prevailing Wage Appeals Board.³ When a petition is filed, the public body must extend the bid deadline until five days after the Board issues its final decision, and that decision then replaces the original rate in the contract.¹ The project can proceed once the appeal is resolved, but the timing delay is real and worth factoring in before filing.

Penalties for Underpayment

Consequences turn on whether the Secretary finds the violation intentional. After a hearing, an unintentional underpayment gets a reasonable opportunity for the contractor to make workers whole by paying back wages or posting adequate security. Ignoring that notice can itself convert the matter into an intentional violation.¹⁰

Intentional violations carry heavier consequences:

Debarment from any public works contract in Pennsylvania for three years, with notice sent to every public body in the state.
Liquidated damages owed to the Commonwealth equal to the amount of the underpayment, on top of the back wages owed to workers.
Termination of the contractor’s right to continue on the project, at the Secretary’s direction.
Criminal prosecution for fraud or misrepresentation on required documents.

These penalties can reach individual officers and partners, not only the business entity.¹

Worker Complaints

A worker paid less than the contract rate can file a written protest with the Secretary within three months of the underpayment, and the Secretary is then required to investigate, hold a hearing, and rule on whether a violation occurred. A worker can also file a private lawsuit for the difference between what was paid and what the contract required, but that suit must be brought within six months of the underpayment.¹

The public body’s fiscal officer has an independent duty to notify the Secretary when a contractor appears to have underpaid. If unpaid wages are confirmed, the officer disbursing public funds can withhold payments to the contractor and pay the workers directly.⁸

1
Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Prevailing Wage Act
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Pennsylvania Code. 34 Pa. Code 9.102 – Definitions
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Department of Labor and Industry. Prevailing Wage
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Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry. Prevailing Wage Rates Determination Request
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Legal Information Institute. 34 Pa. Code 9.103 – Required Provisions
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Pennsylvania Code and Bulletin. 34 Pa. Code 9.108 – Posting of Wage Rates
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Pennsylvania Code. 34 Pa. Code 9.106 – Payment of General Prevailing Minimum Wage Rates
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Pennsylvania Code. 34 Pa. Code 9.110 – Certification of Rate of Wage and Payment
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Department of Labor and Industry. Prevailing Wage FAQs
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Department of Labor and Industry. Prevailing Wage Projects