Head Start and the Davis-Bacon Act
Generally, the Davis-Bacon Act requires that any contractor hired to construct, renovate or repair a Head Start facility (if the contract exceeds $2,000) must pay the laborers and mechanics engaged in the construction, renovation or repair “prevailing rate” wages. These “prevailing rate” wages are determined by the Department of Labor for each county in the country and are updated, as necessary. The Davis-Bacon Act also includes provisions about fringe benefits to be paid to laborers and mechanics, limitations on wage withholding, and payroll and record keeping requirements.
- Head Start ECKLC Davis-Bacon Act Information
- Information Memorandum 95-04 discusses the general features and definitions of the Davis-Bacon Act and ACF's role in monitoring compliance with the Act.
- See CAPLAW’s Davis-Bacon Act webpage from the ARRA Online Toolkit for additional Davis-Bacon information.
Generally, the Davis-Bacon Act (DBA) should be applied to Head Start Act construction projects in the same way it is applied to Weatherization Assistance Program projects (WAP). Some of the main differences in the application of the DBA to Head Start as opposed to WAP are that the Department of Labor (DOL) has created wage determinations which include a weatherization classification for workers performing American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) WAP projects. By contrast, Head Start grantees should use the DOL wage determinations regularly used for their county. Also, Head Start grantees should use the DOL contract labor standards as set forth in 29 CFR 5.5(a) rather than those prepared by the Department of Energy (DOE) for WAP.
