Developments In California Prevailing Wage Law

The California Legislature's ongoing efforts to strengthen the Prevailing Wage Law continued in 2014, with certain measures enacted to become effective in 2015. Familiar ground to public entities, developers, and contractors, the Prevailing Wage Law, Labor Code section 1720 et seq. ("PWL"), requires payment of the prevailing wage to workers employed on public works projects. To be defined as a public work, the project must 1) involve construction; 2) be done under contract; and 3) be paid for out of public funds. If a project is defined as a public work, the PWL requires the payment of not less than the prevailing rate of per diem wages for work of a similar character in the locality in which the public work is performed, among other things. The general prevailing rate of per diem wages is determined by the Department of Industrial Relations ("DIR").