The Department of Labor (DOL) Wage and Hour Division Oct. 20 published a proposed rule that would revise regulations pertaining to the Davis-Bacon Act and the Copeland Anti-Kickback Act in an effort to better protect the privacy of workers on construction contracts by eliminating the requirement that personal information about the workers be transmitted each week.  

The Davis-Bacon Act is applied to many federal construction projects and requires contractors and subcontractors to pay construction workers no less than the prevailing wage and fringe benefits for similar projects.  The Copeland Anti-Kickback Act requires contractors and subcontractors working on most federally financed construction contracts to furnish a weekly statement about wages paid to each worker.  Under the proposed rule, workers’ Social Security numbers and home addresses would be eliminated from weekly certified payroll submissions.  

DOL stated in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that it believes it is possible to enforce the requirements without continuing to needlessly expose workers to potential identity theft by transmitting personal information on payroll records each week.   

Construction contractors and subcontractors will still be required to maintain workers’ addresses and Social Security numbers and government agencies responsible for ensuring compliance with contract provisions will continue to be able to access that information if necessary for purposes of an audit or investigation.  

ABC is reviewing the proposed the rule and will submit comments by the Nov. 19 deadline.  

To view a copy of the proposed rule, click here.