Labor Laws and Employment Practices
Prevailing wage, DIR, and the ABC test
Public works require prevailing wages - the applicable craft's general prevailing rate plus fringe benefits - for all workers, including subcontractors' employees. Contractors and subcontractors must be registered with the DIR before bidding and must remain registered; an unregistered bidder is nonresponsive. Certified payroll must be submitted weekly, and apprenticeship ratios (roughly one apprentice per five journeymen, with exceptions) are commonly tested. The prevailing wage threshold for construction public works is generally $1,000.
Wage-and-hour rules: overtime after eight hours in a day or 40 in a week at one and one-half times the rate; double time after 12 hours in a day and for hours over eight on the seventh consecutive day. Provide a 30-minute meal period before the end of the fifth hour and 10-minute rest breaks per four hours worked. Misclassification is governed by California's ABC test: a worker is presumed an employee unless free from control, performing work outside the hiring entity's usual course of business, and customarily engaged in an independent trade.
Also required: workers' compensation for every employee, supervisor harassment-prevention training, and workplace postings.
Trap: assuming a subcontractor's payroll is not your problem - on public works the prime can be liable for a subcontractor's wage violations.
Rule of thumb: on a public job, verify DIR registration and the wage determination before pricing labor.