L&I planning wage surveys for several trades including truck drivers, site surveyors
The Department of Labor and Industries is planning wage and hour surveys to establish prevailing-wage rates for several trades. The surveys will be carried out over the next 12 months and will be used to establish prevailing-wage rates in all 39 counties. L&I says the nine trades will likely be divided into two rounds:
Round One
- Building-service maintenance (janitors)
- Outside telephone-line construction
- Ship building and ship repairing
- Truck drivers
Round Two
- Construction site surveyors
- Electronic technicians
- Landscape construction
- Motor-shop electricians
- Telecommunication technicians
L&I identifies companies who likely employed workers in the fields and timeframe being surveyed. Other interested parties, such as labor unions, are also included. Participation in the survey process is voluntary, but AGC encourages members to participate. L&I will offer both online and paper form options to participate.
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As a reminder, the process L&I follows to determine prevailing wage rates is as follows:
Trades are generally surveyed every three years to determine the prevailing-wage rates.
Contractors and unions are surveyed to determine the wages and benefits that are being paid for each job classification. This list is established using industrial insurance, Intent and Affidavit filing, and licensing data.
Prevailing-wage rates are calculated for each job classification based on the survey data – such as carpenters, electricians, laborers, etc. The method for calculating prevailing wage is as follows:
- Largest City in County – Majority Wage: If more than one-half of all hours reported in the largest city in a county are worked at one wage rate, then that majority wage rate becomes the prevailing wage for the whole county.
- Largest City in County – Average Wage: If there is no majority wage rate, then a weighted average wage is computed using data from the largest city in a county. The weight attached to each wage is the total number of hours reported to be worked at that wage.
- County Average -- If no hours are reported in a county’s largest city, then a weighted average wage is computed using countywide data.
- Existing Wage Rate – Remains in Place: If no data is reported for the entire county, then the county’s old prevailing wage is retained as the new prevailing wage.