How does the Davis Bacon Act apply to employees?

Question:

I have been hired by a construction company just 2 days ago. In filling out the required forms I was told that I had to fill out the Davis Bacon form (for retirement I believe; investment) at '100% stability' even though there were approximately 50 other options for me to choose from. (and that option could not be explained to me adequately so I could understand just what exactly it means.) I feel that I should be able to choose how I want my monies to be invested and that I also have that option except for my superior telling me different.. Otherwise, why would there be so many other choices for me on the page? Any help and information on this matter would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Answer:
The Davis-Bacon Act of 1931 is a United States federal law which established the requirement for paying prevailing wages on public works projects. All federal government construction contracts, and most contracts for federally assisted construction over $2,000, must include provisions for paying workers on-site no less than the locally prevailing wages and benefits paid on similar projects.

The act is named after its Republican sponsors, James "Puddler Jim" Davis, a Senator from Pennsylvania and a former Secretary of Labor under three presidents, and Representative Robert L. Bacon of Long Island, New York.

Prevailing wage laws in the U.S. date back as far as 1891, when on the state level, Kansas instituted this first such law. Forty-one states followed suit in the years to come. These state prevailing wage laws were the fruit of the "Progressive Era," which instituted statutes such as child labor laws, public schools and worker compensation insurance.

But it took the worldwide Great Depression, which at its height saw one out of four Americans unemployed, that fueled the passing of the Davis-Bacon Act by a Republican Congress and a Republican President, Herbert Hoover. Representative Bacon, say modern conservative opponents of the law, initially introduced the bill after a contractor employed African-American workers from Alabama to build a Veteran’s Bureau hospital in his New York district. More accurately, the legislative history of Davis-Bacon reflects a desire by Congress to reserve jobs on federal projects for local workers, who nationwide faced epidemic unemployment. Conservatives opposed to the Davis-Bacon Act have claimed that there was racist intent to the law, but critics have countered that this is a red herring, stating that it was a sincere attempt to make amends for local workers and flatly dismiss the conservative claim that it has Jim Crow origins.

While Davis-Bacon (and associated "Little Davis-Bacon" state laws) do encourage the hiring of skilled local workers, advocates emphasize that they also work to train young people into skilled tradesmen and tradeswomen. Despite anti-union criticism, union apprenticeship programs (which Davis-Bacon tends to promote) actively recruit and train minorities to this day.

Union supporters of Davis-Bacon point to a 2002 case known as "Brazier Construction vs. Elaine Chao, Secretary of the Department of Labor." In it, Judge William B. Bryant (himself African-American) rejected that Davis-Bacon was a Jim Crow law. He stated: "Americans of all races were in need of aid from the government during the Great Depression. Congress enacted the DBA (Davis Bacon Act) to assure workers a fair wage, provide local contractors a fair opportunity to compete for local government contracts and to preserve its own ability to distribute employment and federal money equitably through public works projects." With the claim rejected, the plaintiffs did not appeal. Despite notable attempts to repeal the Davis-Bacon Act, the law for the most part continues to enjoy often bi-partisan local support across the nation.

How does the Davis Bacon Act apply to employees?

Hot Topic