New Federal Minimum Wage Applies to Contracts Entered After 1/1/15

In the rush of kicking off 2015, don't forget that there is a higher federal minimum wage. Effective January 15, 2015, for all federal contracts (but not federally-funded state and local contracts), everyone working on the project has to be paid at least the new federal wage rate of $10.10 per hour.

This goes beyond the Davis-Bacon requirement for prevailing wages for field workers. It now includes all office workers who have to be paid these minimum wages for all time spent on the federal project – although the rate they have to be paid will generally be lower than the Davis-Bacon rates for field workers.

Retainage on Missouri State Projects Cut in Half

For all Missouri state contracts, remember that as of August 2014, retainage is limited to 5%. After substantial completion, it is limited to only 5% of the original retainage, which means that the owner and the general contractor can only hold 1/10 of 1% until final completion. An exception exists for the punch list, which is now limited to 150% of the value of the items on the list.