United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office Health, Education, and Human Services Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 1996-06-20 monographic deposited born digital 15 p. GA 1.13:T-HEHS-96-166 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-T-HEHS-96-166 P0b002ee18037ea58 f:he96166t DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-T-HEHS-96-166 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-T-HEHS-96-166 T-HEHS-96-166 Wage surveys Minimum wage rates Data collection operations Construction contracts Labor law Data integrity Appellate procedure Construction costs Fringe benefits Labor statistics Testimony HEHS GAO discussed the vulnerabilities in the Department of Labor's prevailing wage determination process under the Davis-Bacon Act. GAO noted that: (1) Labor sets prevailing wage rates for numerous job classifications in about 3,000 geographic areas; (2) Labor's wage determination process depends on employers' and third parties' voluntary participation in a survey that reports wage and fringe benefits paid for similar jobs on comparable construction projects in a given area; (3) due to limited resources, Labor concentrates on those geographical areas most in need of wage rate revisions; (4) Labor wage determinations can be appealed by any interested party; (5) process weaknesses include limited data verification, limited computer capabilities to detect erroneous data, and the lack of awareness of the appeals process; (6) erroneous data could result in setting the wage rate too low so that construction workers are underpaid or setting the wage rate too high so that the government incurs excessive construction costs; (7) Labor initiatives to improve its rate-setting process include having employers verify certain third-party data, informing survey respondents of the serious consequences of willfully falsifying wage data, and proposing a long-term strategy to review the entire wage determination process; and (8) Labor should immediately improve its verification of employer wage data and make the appeals process more effective. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-T-HEHS-96-166/html/GAOREPORTS-T-HEHS-96-166.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-T-HEHS-96-166/pdf/GAOREPORTS-T-HEHS-96-166.pdf GAO/T-HEHS-96-166 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-T-HEHS-96-166 Testimony GAO/T-HEHS-96-166; Davis-Bacon Act: Process Changes Could Address Vulnerability to Use of Inaccurate Data in Setting Prevailing Wage Rates; Wage surveys Minimum wage rates Data collection operations Construction contracts Labor law Data integrity Appellate procedure Construction costs Fringe benefits Labor statistics