In government contracting, a prevailing wage is defined as the hourly wage, usual benefits and overtime that is established by the Department of Labor and Industries for each occupation and skill set by geographic region.
Wage Determination Rates are established for each county and are determined based on research data, surveys, collective bargaining agreements and cost of living.
- Largest City in County – If more than half of the worker’s hours reported are at one wage for the city than this will become the majority wage rate. If there is no majority wage rate than the average of all the survey data will become the prevailing wage for that city.
- Existing Wage – If no data is found for the county than the old prevailing wage will be the new prevailing wage.
According to the Department of Labor, since August 28th,, 2018, the Missouri General Assembly passed the following changes for prevailing wage:
- Any public works projects valued at $75,000 and under are not subject to the prevailing wage law
- Projects valued at $10,000 and below are not subject to competitive bidding process
- Hours worked during holidays will be paid twice the normal rate, including fringe benefits (OT Hours will be paid time and half the normal rate, including fringe benefits)
- Contractors may employ one Entry Level Worker for each Skilled Worker hired and pay them 50% of the pay (Including fringe costs)
- The Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations may investigate violations on its own or review complaints submitted
Important Dates on new provisions to law in 2019:
The Department of Labor will only use hours reported by contractor on non-resident projects in calculating annual wage which includes both public and private whether or not subject under the collective bargaining agreement.
- To find more information on how to calculate the prevailing wage, click here.
New Public Works Contracting Minimum Wage of 120% of the average county wage for counties where less than 1,000 hours were reported for a particular occupational title.
The initial Annual Wage Order that contains the prevailing wage and public works will be released March 10, 2019 with the final wage order released by July 1, 2019. This will still continue to control on projects valued over 75,000.