Prevailing Wage Weekly Requirements in Hawaii

Weekly filing of certified payrolls required on public works construction projects
Hawaii's prevailing wage law, Wages and Hours of Employees on Public Works, Chapter 104, Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS), sometimes referred to as "Little Davis-Bacon" is similar to the federal Davis-Bacon law but different in some regards as well.    Both Hawaii Chapter 104, HRS and the Davis Bacon law  require certified payrolls to be submitted to the contracting agency on a weekly basis.  See Section 104-3(a), HRS, 29 CFR 5.5(a)(3)(ii)(A).  Certified payrolls must report the actual amount paid to the laborers and mechanics for the hours worked.

 Weekly payment required to laborers and mechanics on public works construction projects
All labors and mechanics working on the construction subject to Chapter 104, HRS, must be paid weekly. The law goes on to require the payment be within five working days of the end of the work week.  See Section 104-2(d) , HRS, 40 USC 3142(c)(1).     The pay period of one work week is determined by the employer and can be any set seven consecutive days.  Working days are considered Monday through Friday, so when counting five days from the end of the pay period, Saturdays, Sundays and State holidays are not counted. See Hawaii Administrative Rule 12-22-13.

Example how certified payrolls should be filed to be timely
An employer sets the work week from Sunday to Saturday, payment is due to laborers and mechanics the following Friday.  Certified payrolls should be filed on the same Friday as the payments are due to the employees. In essence it is a public pay statement.

If an employer has a work week from Monday to Sunday, payment is still due on Friday, five working days after the end of the weekly pay period.

If an employer has a work week from Tuesday to Monday, payment is due the following Monday, five working days after the end of the work week.  Certified payrolls should be submitted by the following Monday as well.

General contractor accommodations
For enforcement purposes general contractors may submit certified payrolls to the contracting agency seven days after the weekly paydate to allow the general to collect and review certified payrolls of the subcontractors, this type of weekly schedule will look like this:

Week Ending:	Pay Date	Remarks
April 2		Work begins on the project during this week.
April 9	Friday, April 8	(1)   Pay date for work performed in the previous week ending April 2. (2)  Subs submit certified payrolls to General for work performed week ending April 2 (3)  Work is also performed during this week.
April 16	Friday, April 15	(1)   Pay date for work performed in the previous week ending April 9. (2a)  Due date for all certified payrolls to be submitted to contracting  agency  from the prime with all subcontractors for work performed during the week ending April 2. (2b)  Subs submit certified payrolls to General for work performed week ending April 9 (3)   Work is also performed during this week.
April 23	Friday, April 22	(1)   Pay date for work performed in the previous week ending April 16. (2) a  Due date for all certified payrolls to be submitted to contracting agency from the prime with all subcontractors for work performed during the week ending April 9. (2) b  Subs submit certified payrolls to General for work performed week ending April 16

Different requirements then general rule.
Note that the general rule for payment to employees is at least twice a month.  See Section 388-2. HRS.

For more information
See Wage Standards Division Prevailing Wages on Public Works page.
See  Fact sheet 66 provides general information for the Davis-Bacon law.

 

Kuhio Day is Overtime Day

Information about Prince Kuhio can be found here.

Spring is in the air!  Contractors who have public works jobs will be looking to make up for lost time during the heavy rain earlier in the month.  Monday, March 26, is Kuhio Day, a State holiday, which means all DLIR offices will be closed to the public.  It also means that laborers and mechanics working on public works jobs Monday are due overtime pay of time and a half all day, even if they work less than forty hours in the week.

The Hawaii public works law (Wages and Hours of Employees on Public Works,Chapter 104, Hawaii Revised Statutes) requires laborers and mechanics to be paid overtime after 8 hours a day, or for all hours on Saturdays or Sundays or on State Holidays. (Section 104-2(c), HRS).  The rate must be equal to one and a half times the rate as listed on the current prevailing wage rate list for the appropriate job.

Calculating the overtime rate from this list can be confusing because the wage rate is listed in two parts, the basic hourly rate plus the fringe benefit rate.  To calculate the overtime rate of any classification take the basic hourly rate and multiply by 1.5 then add the fringe benefit.  As an example, an electrician who is a Line Installer (outside) is paid the prevailing wage rate of $65.54.  The prevailing wage rate is equal to the basic hourly rate of $40.55 plus the fringe benefit rate of $24.99.  The overtime rate is $85.82.  O.T. is calculated by taking the hourly rate of $40.55 and multiplying it by 1.5 and adding the fringe benefit amount of $24.99.  Note that the overtime rate is not prevailing wage rate times 1.5 or $98.31, nor is it $60.82 which would be 1.5 times the basic hourly without adding the fringe benefit amount.

Some have noticed that certified payroll forms submitted as required by law, often report differing amounts as the hourly prevailing wage rate.  There can be many legitimate reasons why this happens.  Amounts may differ because employers often have different benefit packages. If you have questions about a specific situation you can check our website for more information or call 808-586-8777 to speak to someone.