O F F I C E O F L E G I S L A T I V E R E S E A R C H
P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
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PA 21-154—HB 6378
Labor and Public Employees Committee
AN ACT CODIFYING PRE VAILING WAGE CONTRAC T RATES
SUMMARY: This act revises the method the labor commissioner must use to set
prevailing wage rates on public works projects. It establishes one process for
building, heavy, and highway projects and another for residential projects.
Under the prevailing wage law, contractors on public works projects must at
least pay the prevailing hourly wage rate and benefits, as determined by law, to all
eligible workers on the project. The requirement applies to new construction
projects of $1 million or more and renovation projects of $100,000 or more.
The act also makes conforming changes.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2021
PREVAILING WAGE DETE RMINATIONS
Prior law allowed the commissioner to set the rates in one of two ways: (1) on
his own, after (a) holding a hearing to determine the prevailing wage rates on any
public work within a specified area and (b) establishing classifications of skilled,
semiskilled, and ordinary labor, or (2) by adopting and using the applicable
prevailing wage rates set by the federal labor secretary for the federal prevailing
wage law. Under prior practice, the labor commissioner uses the federally
determined rates for the four types of prevailing wage projects: building, heavy,
highway, and residential.
The act instead establishes one process for building, heavy, and highway
projects and another for residential projects. Residential projects are those of
either single- or multi-family housing or dormitories of no more than four stories.
Building, Heavy, and Highway Project Rates
The act requires the commissioner to make the prevailing hourly wage rate for
building, heavy, and highway projects for each trade or occupation the same as
the rate established in the collective bargaining agreement or understanding
between employers or employer associations and labor organizations in effect for
that trade or occupation for the town where the project is being constructed. It
also specifies the wage rates must conform to the overtime wage law.
For benefits, the act requires the commissioner, when making the rate
determination, to consider the amount of payment, contributions, and member
benefits, including health, pension, annuity, and apprenticeship funds (1) as
recognized by the U.S. Department of Labor and the state labor commissioner and
(2) paid or payable on behalf of each person to any employee welfare fund that is
established in a collective bargaining agreement or understanding between an O L R P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
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employer and a union. Under prior law, the benefit rate was the amount of
payment or contributions paid or payable on behalf of each person to any
employee welfare fund (see BACKGROUND).
Under the act, for each trade or occupation for which more than one collective
bargaining agreement is in effect for the town in which such project is being
constructed, the collective bargaining agreement of historical jurisdiction must
prevail. The act does not define “historical jurisdiction.”
Residential Project Rates and Towns With No Bargaining Agreement
Under the act, for residential project rates the labor commissioner must adopt
and use the appropriate and applicable federally determined prevailing wage rates.
The act also requires the labor commissioner to use this methodology for each
trade or occupation for which there is no collective bargaining agreement in effect
for the town in which the building, heavy, or highway works project is being
constructed.
BACKGROUND
Employee Welfare Fund
Under the prevailing wage law, an “employee welfare fund” means any trust
fund established by one or more employers and one or more labor organizations
or other third parties to provide, whether through the purchase of insurance,
annuity contracts, or otherwise, benefits under an employee welfare plan. The
welfare plan provides benefits or services established or maintained for persons
performing the work of any mechanics, laborers, or workers or their families or
dependents, or for both. Benefits include medical, surgical, or hospital care
benefits; sickness, accident, disability, or death benefits; unemployment benefits;
or retirement benefits (CGS § 31-53(i)).