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The Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act (PCA); the McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act (SCA); and the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act (CWHSSA)
Note: LRCC does NOT currently employ any faculty or staff through federal contracts as of the start of 2024. Therefore, if you are an LRCC employee, this information is Not related to your position here with us.
Every employer performing work covered by the Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act or the McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act (SCA) is required to post a notice of the compensation required (including, for service contracts, any applicable wage determination) in a prominent and accessible location at the worksite where it may be seen by all employees performing on the contract. The poster “Notice to Workers Working on Government Contracts” (WH-1313) is required by Federal law. The CWHSSA utilizes the same poster as well.
- This law affects all employers whose workers are engaged in the production of materials, supplies, articles, or equipment amounting to more than $10,000 under a government contract.
- Contracts for services in excess of $2,500 also apply.
Direct Link to the poster in English:
https://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/posters/sca.htm
Image of the poster:
Image in Spanish:
Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act (PCA)
General Provisions — This act applies to contracts which exceed or may exceed $15,000 entered into by any agency or instrumentality of the United States for the manufacture or furnishing of materials, supplies, articles, or equipment.
Compelled “to accept the lowest responsible bid regardless of the conditions of work under which the contract was performed,” government often found itself “an unwilling collaborator with ... firms that sought to get government business by cutting wages.” 28 In the early 1930s, the Roosevelt Administration, staffed heavily by social activists from the World War I era and faced with the economic realities of the Great Depression, began to press for reforms.
The PCA, as amended (41 U.S.C. 35–45), establishes minimum wage, maximum hours, and safety and health standards for work on certain contracts over $15,000 for the manufacturing or furnishing of materials, supplies, articles, or equipment to the U.S. government or the District of Columbia. It was enacted “to provide conditions for the purchase of supplies and the making of contracts by the United States., as ” Covered workers must be paid not less than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour and overtime pay of at least one and one-half times the worker’s regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 hours in a workweek. Covered workers under the PCA include only those employees engaged in or connected with the manufacture, fabrication, assembling, handling, supervision, or shipment of materials, supplies, articles, or equipment required under the contract. Employees performing only office or custodial work and employees employed in a bona fide executive, administrative, professional, or outside salesman capacity, as those terms are defined and delimited in 29 CFR part 541, are not covered by the PCA.
The Act was named for its Congressional sponsors, both Massachusetts Democrats, Senator David I. Walsh and Representative Arthur Healey. The Act was based on Executive Order 6246, issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on August 10, 1933, which required government contractors to comply with codes of fair competition issued under the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA).
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The Service Contract Act (SCA) (McNamara-O'Hara Act)
General Provisions — The Service Contract Act applies to every contract entered into by the United States or the District of Columbia, the principal purpose of which is to furnish services in the United States through the use of service employees. Contractors and subcontractors performing on such Federal contracts must observe minimum wage and safety and health standards.
For contracts equal to or less than $2,500, contractors are required to pay the federal minimum wage as provided in Section 6(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
For prime contracts in excess of $100,000, contractors and subcontractors must also, under the provisions of the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act, as amended, pay laborers and mechanics, including guards and watchmen, at least one and one-half times their regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek. The overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act may also apply to SCA-covered contracts.
The SCA does not apply to certain types of contract services. The contracts exempt from SCA coverage include:
- Contracts for construction, alteration, or repair, including painting, and decorating, of public buildings or public works (these are covered by the Davis-Bacon Act);
- Work required in accordance with the provisions of the Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act;
- Contracts for transporting freight or personnel where published tariff rates are in effect;
- Contracts for furnishing services by radio, telephone, telegraph, or cable companies subject to the Communications Act of 1934;
- Contracts for public utility services;
- Employment contracts providing for direct services to a federal agency by an individual or individuals;
- Contracts for operating postal contract stations for the U.S. Postal Service;
- Services performed outside the U.S. (except in territories administered by the U.S., as defined in the Act); and
- Contracts subject to administrative exemptions granted by the Secretary of Labor in special circumstances because of the public interest or to avoid serious impairment of government business.
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The Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act (CWHSSA)
The Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act (CWHSSA) applies to certain contracts with the federal government or the District of Columbia that require or involve the employment of laborers or mechanics, including watchmen and guards. Contracts covered by CWHSSA include certain federal service contracts and federally funded and assisted construction contracts.
The CWHSSA is enforced by the Wage and Hour Division. The Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act (CWHSSA) provides workers on covered contracts the right to receive not less than one and one-half times their basic rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek on such contracts. The Wage and Hour Division accepts complaints of alleged CWHSSA wage violations. Wage and Hour Division local offices are listed at www.dol.gov/whd/america2.htm.
It is prohibited to retaliate against or fire workers or job applicants for engaging in protected activities such as making a complaint or cooperating in a Wage and Hour Division investigation under the CWHSSA.
The Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act (CWHSSA) does not have its own posting requirement. However, if the contract to which CWHSSA applies is subject to the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts' requirements, the Notice of Worker Rights on Federal or Federally Financed Construction Projects poster must be posted.
If the contract to which CWHSSA applies is subject to the Service Contract Act's requirements, the "Worker Rights on Government Contracts" (seen above), poster must be posted. The appropriate poster(s) must be posted at the worksite in a prominent and accessible place where it may be easily seen by workers. There is no size requirement for these posters but they must be easily readable. See below for an image, although without the contracting officer's information filled in as LRCC doesn't currently hold such a contract.
Certain contracts are exempt from CWHSSA. These include contracts for the following:
- Transportation by land, air, or water;
- Transmission of intelligence;
- Purchase of supplies, materials, or articles ordinarily available in the "open market";
- Work required to be done in accordance with provisions of the Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act; and
- Contracts administratively exempted by the Secretary of Labor in special circumstances in the public interest to prevent injustice or undue hardship or to avoid serious impairment of federal government business.
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DOL Contacts
Wage and Hour Division
Contact WHD
Tel: 1-866-4-US-WAGE (1-866-487-9243)*
*If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services.