Labor Commissioner Begins 2014-15 Prevailing Wage Survey

Nevada Labor Commissioner Thoran Towler has released the 2014–2015 Construction Wage Survey for contractors throughout the state. 

State law requires the Commissioner to survey contractors that have performed construction work during the previous year in order to determine the prevailing wage rates. Prevailing wage rates are required to be paid on all Nevada public works construction projects- such as schools, libraries, roadways and government buildings- costing more than $100,000.

The surveys are due July 15, 2014 in order for the new rates to be posted by October 1, 2014, as required by Nevada law.  “The deadline is critical,” said Commissioner Towler, “If the survey has not been received in either our Carson City or Las Vegas office by 5:00 pm on July 15^th, it won’t be counted in the survey.  It is the contractor’s responsibility to make sure the survey has been received.”

Contractors can access the survey by visiting http://www.laborcommissioner.com.  The website also contains convenient links to Nevada's prevailing wage laws, as well as state-required posters and other useful employment information. A hard copy form can be provided by calling the Office of the Labor Commissioner in Las Vegas at (702) 486-2650, or in Carson City at (775) 687-4850. For those who wish to submit a completed survey via email, the forms must be sent to publicworks@laborcommissioner.com no later than July 1 (prior to the July 15 deadline for all other methods of submission) to allow for an initial review and email verification of receipt.

All contractors who have worked on construction projects may participate in the survey, even if they are not required to have a contractor’s license. “Temporary employment agencies and engineering firms often have employees who work on construction projects,” Commissioner Towler said, “Since they have to pay prevailing wages on public works projects, they can participate in the survey.”

According to Administrative Assistant Nelly Bernal, who oversees the data collection and calculation of the rates, the Labor Commissioner’s Office strives to ensure that the public understands how the rates are established.  “We often receive telephone calls and e-mails from people curious as to how we came up with a particular rate,” said Bernal.  “The information obtained from the surveys is loaded into a computer program, which calculates the prevailing wage rates on a county-by-county, job-classification basis.”

Commissioner Towler encourages all contractors, particularly those working in rural areas, to participate as precisely as possible in the prevailing wage survey to ensure that the rates established accurately reflect the rates that are being paid in a particular community. If no rates are reported for a craft in a county, the Commissioner must rely on wage rates as reported for the nearest county that has a rate. Many times a low-population county can end up with the same rate as established in Clark County for a particular craft, because no rural numbers were reported.  Participation by all contractors is the key.

Contractors should keep several important facts in mind when completing the survey:

§  All data from all contractors will be considered.  However, the information must be within survey requirements.  For example, work must be done within the specified dates and must be for a classification included in the survey.

§  Surveys should include wages paid on private and commercial projects.  To establish a rate reflective of what's been paid, the survey should include wages paid on all construction projects, not just publicly-funded projects.

§  Rural projects should be included.  The size of a project is not important.  Where the work was performed and what rate contractors paid a specific classification in a given locale are the important factors.

For more information, please contact Nelly Bernal at publicworks@laborcommissioner.com or (702) 486-2650.

About the Office of the Labor Commissioner

The Office of the Labor Commissioner is a division of the Department of Business and Industry. The Labor Commissioner strives to ensure that all workers are treated fairly under the law by investigating complaints of non-payment of wages, State minimum wage, overtime, and prevailing wage disputes. The office also monitors youth employment standards, including work hours and safe, non-hazardous working conditions.

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