BP BHEAD INT H [atlas:bill]

AN ACT Relating to determining and applying prevailing wages; amending RCW 39.04.010, 39.12.010, and 39.12.020; and adding a new section to chapter 39.12 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1. RCW 39.04.010 and 1997 c 220 s 402 are each amended to read as follows:

The term state shall include the state of Washington and all departments, supervisors, commissioners and agencies thereof.

The term municipality shall include every city, county, town, district or other public agency thereof which is authorized by law to require the execution of public work, except drainage districts, diking districts, diking and drainage improvement districts, drainage improvement districts, diking improvement districts, consolidated diking and drainage improvement districts, consolidated drainage improvement districts, consolidated diking improvement districts, irrigation districts or any such other districts as shall from time to time be authorized by law for the reclamation or development of waste or undeveloped lands.

The term public work shall include all work, construction, alteration, repair, or improvement other than ordinary maintenance, executed at the cost of the state or of any municipality, or which is by law a lien or charge on any property therein. All public works, including maintenance when performed by contract shall comply with the provisions of ((~~RCW 39.12.020~~)) chapter 39.12 RCW. The term does not include work, construction, alteration, repair, or improvement performed under contracts entered into under RCW 36.102.060(4) or under development agreements entered into under RCW 36.102.060(7) or leases entered into under RCW 36.102.060(8).

The term contract shall mean a contract in writing for the execution of public work for a fixed or determinable amount duly awarded after advertisement and competitive bid. However, a contract which is awarded from a small works roster under the authority of RCW 39.04.150, 35.22.620, 28B.10.355, 35.82.075, and 57.08.050 need not be advertised.

Sec. 2. RCW 39.12.010 and 1989 c 12 s 6 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The "prevailing rate of wage", for the intents and purposes of this chapter, shall be the weighted average rate of hourly wage, usual benefits, and overtime paid in the ((~~locality, as hereinafter defined,~~)) county to the ((~~majority of~~)) workers, laborers, or mechanics, in the same trade or occupation. ((In the event that there is not a majority in the same trade or occupation paid at the same rate, then the average rate of hourly wage and overtime paid to such laborers, workers, or mechanics in the same trade or occupation shall be the prevailing rate.)) The average shall be weighted for the hours worked at each hourly wage. If the wage paid by any contractor or subcontractor to laborers, workers, or mechanics on any public work is based on some period of time other than an hour, the hourly wage for the purposes of this chapter shall be mathematically determined by the number of hours worked in such period of time.

(2) ((~~The "locality" for the purposes of this chapter shall be the largest city in the county wherein the physical work is being performed.~~

~~(3)~~)) The "usual benefits" for the purposes of this chapter shall include the amount of:

(a) The rate of contribution irrevocably made by a contractor or subcontractor to a trustee or to a third person pursuant to a fund, plan, or program; and

(b) The rate of costs to the contractor or subcontractor which may be reasonably anticipated in providing benefits to workers, laborers, and mechanics pursuant to an enforcible commitment to carry out a financially responsible plan or program which was communicated in writing to the workers, laborers, and mechanics affected, for medical or hospital care, pensions on retirement or death, compensation for injuries or illness resulting from occupational activity, or insurance to provide any of the foregoing, for unemployment benefits, life insurance, disability and sickness insurance, or accident insurance, for vacation and holiday pay, for defraying costs of apprenticeship or other similar programs, or for other bona fide fringe benefits, but only where the contractor or subcontractor is not required by other federal, state, or local law to provide any of such benefits.

((~~(4)~~)) (3) An "interested party" for the purposes of this chapter shall include a contractor, subcontractor, an employee of a contractor or subcontractor, an organization whose members' wages, benefits, and conditions of employment are affected by this chapter, and the director of labor and industries or the director's designee.

Sec. 3. RCW 39.12.020 and 1989 c 12 s 7 are each amended to read as follows:

Except as provided in section 4 of this act, the hourly wages to be paid to laborers, workers, or mechanics, upon all public works and under all public building service maintenance contracts of the state or any county, municipality or political subdivision created by its laws with a population of less than one hundred thousand, shall be not less than the prevailing rate of wage for an hour's work in the same trade or occupation in the ((~~locality~~)) county within the state where such labor is performed. For a contract in excess of ten thousand dollars, a contractor required to pay the prevailing rate of wage shall post in a location readily visible to workers at the job site: PROVIDED, That on road construction, sewer line, pipeline, transmission line, street, or alley improvement projects for which no field office is needed or established, a contractor may post the prevailing rate of wage statement at the contractor's local office, gravel crushing, concrete, or asphalt batch plant as long as the contractor provides a copy of the wage statement to any employee on request:

(1) A copy of a statement of intent to pay prevailing wages approved by the industrial statistician of the department of labor and industries under RCW 39.12.040; and

(2) The address and telephone number of the industrial statistician of the department of labor and industries where a complaint or inquiry concerning prevailing wages may be made.

((~~This chapter shall not apply to workers or other persons regularly employed on monthly or per diem salary by the state, or any county, municipality, or political subdivision created by its laws.~~))

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. A new section is added to chapter 39.12 RCW to read as follows:

This chapter does not apply to:

(1) Workers or other persons regularly employed on monthly or per diem salary by the state, or any county, municipality, or political subdivision created by its laws; or

(2) Common school construction performed under Title 28A RCW.