If your company performs work on public works projects in Pennsylvania, you should be following PA Senate Bill 841 (SB 841). Unless they are bound by a collective bargaining agreement, contractors working on public works jobs are permitted to pay more than one wage rate to employees for a day’s work. For example, if an employee spends seven hours performing carpentry work and the last hour of his day sweeping and cleaning up, it would be appropriate to split the employee’s pay by paying seven hours at the carpenter’s rate and one hour at the laborer’s rate. However, SB 841 takes away that flexibility and mandates that an employee be paid no more than one rate per workday. So, using our hypothetical, the employee would receive eight hours of pay at the carpenter’s rate.
The PA Senate Labor and Industry Committee voted in favor of SB 841 with only one dissenting vote. The bill will now make its way to the Senate floor. Critics of SB 841 argue that it threatens to unjustly drive up the cost of public works projects (which are ultimately financed with taxpayer dollars). On the other hand, supporters say that the bill will level the playing field between union and open-shop contractors and benefit blue-collar workers who perform work on public works projects.
