CONTRACT WORK HOURS AND SAFETY

STANDARDS ACT

40 U.S.C. 327-333

Summary and Description

WORK HOURS STANDARD

This act provides a uniform standard, namely, an 8-hour workday and a 40-hour workweek with overtime compensation of 111⁄2 times the basic rate of pay for all work in excess of that standard performed under certain Federal and federally assisted contracts. It consolidates a series of "Eight Hour Laws" into a single statute with simplified provisions which apply in the same way to all contractors and subcontractors performing work coming within its terms.

The acts work hours standard applies to any contract involving the employment of laborers or mechanics, including watchmen and guards: (1) on a public work of the United States, of any Territory, or the District of Columbia,

(2) to which the Federal Government (including any Federal agency or instrumentality), any Territory, or the District of Columbia is a party, or which is made for or on behalf thereof, or

(3) which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants from the Federal Government and to which Federal laws providing wage standards for such work apply. An exception is made to work where the assistance from the United States is only in the nature of a loan guarantee, or insurance.

The act makes clear that the contractor or subcontractor is liable to employees for unpaid overtime compensation. In addition, such an employer is liable to the Government for liquidated damages of $10 for each day an employee was permitted or required to work in excess of the work-hours standard without payment of overtime compensation. Criminal penalties are provided for intentional violations. The Secretary of Labor is given the authority and functions set forth in Reorganization Plan No. 14 of 1950, and pursuant to this plan an employer violating the act's work hours standard may be barred from receiving further Government contracts for a period of up to three years. The act also contains a provision making applicable in accordance with its terms, section 2 of the Copeland Act, as amended. (See p. 180.)

However, the Secretary of Labor is authorized to issue rules and regulations under which such adjustments may be made in the application of the act as he finds necessary and proper in the public interest to prevent injustice and serious impairment of the conduct of Government business.

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The Federal contracting agency is directed to withhold sums necessary to satisfy liabilities for liquidated damages and unpaid overtime wages. If the amounts withheld are not sufficient to satisfy the liability for underpayment of wages, the employees must be paid an equitable proportion of the sums. Then they have a right of action against the employer for the balance and it is no defense that they have accepted less than the required amounts.

CONSTRUCTION SAFETY AND HEALTH STANDARDS

This statute, which was originally entitled the "Contract Work Hours Standards Act of 1962", was amended by the Act of August 9, 1969 (76 Stat. 357) which changed its title to "Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act" and added at the end thereof a new section 107 (40 U.S.C. 333). The provisions added to the Act are designed to promote health and safety in the building trades and construction industry on all Federal, federally financed, and federally assisted construction projects in excess of $2,500. They specifically cover new construction and alterations and repair, including painting and decorating.

STANDARDS, REPORTING, AND COMPLIANCE

The Secretary of Labor is authorized:

(1) to promulgate safety and health standards;

(2) to establish and supervise programs for the education and training of employers and employees in the recognition, avoidance, and prevention of unsafe working conditions;

(3) to collect reports and data, and consult with and advise employers as to the best means of preventing injuries; and

(4) to make inspections, hold hearings, issue orders, and make such decisions as are deemed necessary to gain compliance with the health and safety standards promulgated under the Act. Under section 4 (b) (2) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, standards issued under this Act are deemed to be occupational safety and health standards issued under the Safety and Health Act. They may be superseded by standards promulgated under the Safety and Health Act.

ADMINISTRATION

Inspections, educational programs, reporting and data-collecting functions are conducted through regional and area offices located throughout the country. Copies of the Act, and the health and safety standards promulgated thereunder, are available at each of these offices.

NONCOMPLIANCE

In the event, after an adjudicatory hearing, the Secretary determines noncompliance with the standards:

(1) The government agency for which the contract work is done has the right to cancel the contract, and to enter into other contracts for the completion of the contract, charging any additional cost to the original contractors.

(2) The U.S. district courts have jurisdiction to enforce compliance with the safety and health standards promulgated by the Secretary.

(3) On findings of repeated willful or grossly negligent violations of the Act, the Secretary is authorized to transmit the name of such contractors or subcontractors to the Comptroller General. The Comptroller General will distribute such names to all agencies of the government, who must withhold awards of contract from them for a period of three years.

The Secretary may terminate the debarment before the end of the three-year period if the safety and health requirements are met to his satisfaction.

Text of Act

(Section Nos. refer to U.S. Code)

§ 327. Definition of Secretary.

As used in sections 327 to 333 of this title, the term "Secretary" means the Secretary of Labor, United States Department of Labor. (Pub. L. 87-581, title I, § 101, Aug. 13, 1962, 76 Stat. 357.)

§ 328. Eight-hour day and forty-hour week; overtime compensation; contractual conditions; liability of employers for violation; withholding funds to satisfy liabilities of employers. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the wages of every laborer and mechanic employed by any contractor or subcontractor in his performance of work on any contract of the character specified in section 329 of this title shall be computed on the basis of a standard workday of eight hours and a standard workweek of forty hours, and work in excess of such standard workday or workweek shall be permitted subject to the provisions of this section. For each workweek in which any such laborer or mechanic is so employed, such wages shall include compensation, at a rate not less than one and one-half times the basic rate of pay, for all hours worked in excess of eight hours in any calendar day or in excess of forty hours in the workweek, as the case may be.

(b) The following provisions shall be a condition of every contract of the character specified in section 329 of this title and of any obligation of the United States, any territory, or the District of Columbia in connection therewith:

(1) No contractor or subcontractor contracting for any part of the contract work which may require or involve the employment of laborers or mechanics shall require or permit any laborer or mechanic, in any workweek in which he is employed on such work, to work in excess of eight hours in any calendar day or in excess of forty hours in such workweek except in accordance with the provisions of sections 327 to 333 of this title; and

(2) In the event of violation of the provisions of paragraph (1), the contractor and any subcontractor responsible therefor shall be liable to such affected employee for his unpaid wages and shall, in addition, be liable to the United States (or, in the case of work done under contract for the District of Columbia or a territory, to such

District or to such territory) for liquidated damages as provided therein. Such liquidated damages shall be computed, with respect to each individual employed as a laborer or mechanic in violation of any provision of sections 327 to 333 of this title, in the sum of $10 for each calendar day on which such individual was required or permitted to work in excess of eight hours or in excess of the standard workweek of forty hours without payment of the overtime wages required by sections 327 to 333 of this title. The governmental agency for which the contract work is done or by which financial assistance for the work is provided may withhold, or cause to be withheld, subject to the provisions of section 330 of this title, from any moneys payable on account of work performed by a contractor or subcontractor, such sums as may administratively be determined to be necessary to satisfy any liabilities of such contractor or subcontractor for unpaid wages and liquidated damages as herein provided. (Pub. L. 87-581, title I, § 102, Aug. 13, 1962, 76 Stat. 357.)

§ 329. Contracts subject to sections 327 to 333 of this title; workers covered; exceptions.

(a) The provisions of sections 327 to 333 of this title shall apply, except as otherwise provided, to any contract which may require or involve the employment of laborers or mechanics upon a public work of the United States, of any territory, or of the District of Columbia, and to any other contract which may require or involve the employment of laborers or mechanics if such contract is one (1) to which the United States or any agency or instrumentality thereof, any territory, or the District of Columbia is a party, or (2) which is made for or on behalf of the United States, any agency or instrumentality thereof, any territory, or the District of Columbia, or (3) which is a contract for work financed in whole or in part by loans or grants from, or loans insured or guaranteed by, the United States or any agency or instrumentality thereof under any statute of the United States providing wage standards for such work: Provided, That the provisions of section 328 of this title, shall not apply to work where the assistance from the United States or any agency or instrumentality as set forth above is only in that nature of a loan guarantee, or insurance. Except as otherwise expressly provided, the provisions of the Act shall apply to all laborers and mechanics, including watchmen and guards, employed by any contractor or subcontractor in the performance of any part of the work contemplated by any such contract, and for purposes of sections 327 to 333 of this title, laborers and mechanics shall include workmen performing services in connection with dredging or rock excavation in any river or harbor of the United States or of any territory or of the District of Columbia, but shall not include any employee employed

(b) Sections 327 to 333 of this title shall not apply to contracts for transportation by land, air, or water or for the transmission of intelligence, or for the purchase of supplies or materials or articles ordinarily available in the open market. Sections 327 to 333 of this title shall not apply with respect to any work required to be done in accordance with the provisions of the Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act. (Pub. L. 87-581, title I, § 103, Aug. 13, 1962, 76 Stat. 358.)