An Act to establish standards for hours of work and overtime pay of laborers and mechanics employed on work done under contract for, or with the financial aid of the United States, for any territory, or for the District of Columbia, and for other purposes
PL 87-581 (H.R.10786), enacted 08/13/1962

76 STAT. ] 
PUBUC LAW 87-581-AUG. 13, 1962 
357 
necessary in the development and propagation of disease-resistant 
strains of oysters. A grant under this section shall be made upon 
agreement by the State to use the proceeds thereof only for the pur-
poses specified in this section and to use an additional amount for such 
purposes from State or other non-Federal sources equal to at least 50 
per centum of the amount of such grant. 
SEC. 3. There is authorized to be appropriated such sum, not to ex-
ceed $100,000, as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this 
Act. 
Approved August 9, 1962. 
Appropriation. 
Public Law 87-581 
AN ACT 
To establish standards for hours of work and overtime pay of laborers and 
mechanics employed on work done under contract for, or with the financial 
aid of, the United States, for any territory, or for the District of Columbia, 
and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled^ That this Act may 
be cited as the "Work Hours Act of 1962" and title I may be cited as 
the "Contract Work Hours Standards Act". 
SEC. 2. As used in this Act, the term "this Act" means the Work 
Hours Act of 1962 except in title I, where it means the Contract Work 
Hours Standards Act. 
August 13, 1962 
[H. R.10786] 
Work Hours Act 
of 1962. 
TITLE I—CONTRACT WORK HOURS STANDARDS ACT 
SEC. 101. As used herein, the term "Secretary" means the Secretary 
"secretary". 
of Labor, United States Department of Labor. 
SEC. 102. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the wages 
Forty-hour w
( 
of every laborer and mechanic employed by any contractor or sub- provision. 
contractor in his performance of work on any contract of the character 
specified in section 103 shall be computed on the basis of a standard 
workday of eight hours and a standard workweek of forty hours, and 
work in excess of such standard workday or workweek shall be per-
mitted subject to the provisions of this section. For each workweek in 
which any such laborer or mechanic is so employed, such wages shall 
include compensation, at a rate not less than one and one-half times 
the basic rate of pay, for all hours worked in excess of eight hours in 
any calendar day or in excess of forty houi*s in the workweek, as the 
case may be. 
(b) The following provisions shall be a condition of every con-
tract of the character specified in section 103 and of any obligation of 
the United States, any territory, or the District of Columbia in con-
nection therewith: 
(1) No contractor or subcontractor contracting for any part of 
the contract work which may require or involve the employment of 
laborers or mechanics shall require or permit any laborer or mechanic, 
in any workweek in which he is employed on such work, to work in 
excess of eight hours in any calendar day or in excess of forty hours 
in such workweek except m accordance with the provisions of this 
Act; and 
(2) In the event of violation of the provisions of paragraph (1), the 
Liability o
f 
contractor and any subcontractor res|)onsible therefor shall be liable vuaition.* ^°' 
to such affected employee for his unpaid wages and shall, in addition, 
be liable to the United States (or, in the case of w^ork done under 
contract for the District of Columbia or a territory, to such District or 
to such territory) for liquidated damages as provided therein. 
Such 
358 
PUBLIC LAW 87-581-AUG. 13,1962 
[76 STAT. 
Contracts, ap-
plicability. 
Coordination of 
enforcement by 
Federal agencies. 
liquidated damages shall be computed, with respect to each individual 
employed as a laborer or mechanic in violation of any provision of this 
Act, in the sum of $10 for each calendar day on which such individual 
was required or permitted to work in excess of eight hours or in 
excess of the standard workweek of forty hours without payment of 
the overtime wages required by this Act. The governmental.agency 
for which the contract work is done or by which financial assistance 
for the work is provided may withhold, or cause to be withheld, subject 
to the provisions of section 104, from any moneys payable on account 
of work performed by a contractor or subcontractor, such sums as 
may administratively be determined to be necessary to satisfy any 
liabilities of sucli contractor or subcontractor for unpaid wages and 
liquidated damages as herein provided. 
SEC. 103. (a) The provisions of this Act shall apply, except as other-
wise provided, to any contract which may require or involve the 
employment of laborers or mechanics upon a public work of the United 
States, of any territory, or of the District of Columbia, and to any 
other contract which may require or inTolve the employment of labor-
ers or mechanics if such contract is one (1) to which the United States 
or any agency or instrumentality thereof, any territory, or the Dis-
trict of Columbia is a party, or, (2) which is made for or on behalf 
of the United States, any agency or instrumentality thereof, any terri-
tory, or the District of Columbia, or (3) which is a contract for work 
financed in whole or in part by loans or grants from, or loans insured 
or guaranteed by, the United States or any agency or instrumentality 
thereof under any statute of the United States providing wage stand-
ards for such work: Provided^ That the provisions of section 102, 
shall not apply to work where the assistance from the United States 
or any agency or instrumentality as set forth above is only in that 
nature of a loan guarantee, or insurance. Except as otherwise ex-
pressly provided, the provisions of the Act shall apply to all laborers 
and mechanics, including watchmen and guards, employed by any 
contractor or subcontractor in the performance of any part of the work 
contemplated by any such contract, and for purposes of this Act, 
laborers and mechanics shall include workmen performing services in 
connection with dredging or rock excavation in any river or harbor 
of the United States or of any territory or of the District of Columbia, 
but shall not include any employee employed as a seaman. 
(b) This Act shall not apply to contracts for transportation by 
land, air, or water, or for the transmission of intelligence, or for the 
purchase of supplies or materials or articles ordinarily available in 
the open market. 
This Act shall not apply with respect to any work 
required to be done in accordance with the provisions of the Walsh-
Heatey Public Contracts Act (49 Stat.2036; 41 U.S.C. 35-45). 
SEC. 104. (a) Any officer or person designated as inspector of the 
work to be performed under any contract of the character specified 
in section 103, or to aid in the enforcement or fulfillment thereof shall, 
upon observation or investigation, forthwith report to the proper officer 
of the United States, of any territory or possession, or of the District 
of Columbia, all violations of the provisions of this Act occurring in 
the performance of such work, together with the name of each laborer 
or mechanic who was required or permitted to work in violation of 
such provisions and the day or days of such violation. 
The amount 
of unpaid wages and liquidated damages owing under the provisions 
of this Act shall be administratively determined and the officer or 
person whose duty it is to approve the payment of moneys by the 
United States, the territory, or the District of Columbia in connection 
with the performance of the contract work shall direct the amount of 
such liquidated damages to be withheld for the use and benefit of the 
United States, said territory, or said District, and shall direct the 
76 STAT. ] 
PUBLIC LAW 87-581-AUG. 13, 1962 
359 
amount of stich unpaid wages to be withheld for the use and benefit of 
the laborers and mechanics who were not compensated as required 
under the provisions of this Act. 
The Comptroller General of the 
United States is hereby authorized and directed to pay directly to 
such laborers and mechanics, from the sums withheld on account of 
underpayments of wages, the respective amounts administratively 
determined to be due, if the funds withheld are adequate, and, if not, 
an equitable proportion of such amounts. 
(b) If the accrued payments withheld under the terms of the con-
tracts, as aforesaid, are insufficient to reimburse all the laborers and 
mechanics v/ith respect to whom there has been a failure to pay the 
wages required pursuant to this Act, such laborers and mechanics 
shall, in the case of a department or agency of the Federal Govern-
ment, have the rights of action and/or of intervention against the 
contractor and his sureties conferred by law upon persons furnishing 
labor or materials, and in such proceedings it shall be no defense that 
such laborers and mechanics accepted or agreed to accept less than 
the required rate of wages or voluntarily made refunds. 
(c) Any contractor or subcontractor aggrieved by the withholding 
Right to 
of a sum as liquidated damages as provided in this Act shall have the «PP««^-
right, within sixty days thereafter, to appeal to the head of the agency 
of the United States or of the territory for which the contract work 
is done or by which financial assistance for the work is provided, or to 
the Commissioners of the District of Columbia in the case of liqui- 
^^^-^ "
^ 
dated damages withheld for the use and benefit of said District. 
Such agency head or Commissioners, as the case may be, shall have 
authority to review the administrative determination of liquidated 
damages and to issue a final order affirming such determination; or, 
if it is found that the sum determined is incorrect or that the con-
tractor or subcontractor violated the provisions of this Act inad-
vertently notwithstanding the exercise of due care on his part and that 
of his agents, recommendations may be made to the Secretary that an 
appropriate adjustment in liquidated damages be made, or that 
the contractor or subcontractor be relieved of liability for such liqui-
dated damages. 
The Secretary shall review all pertinent facts in 
the matter and may conduct such investigations as he deems necessary, 
so as to affirm or reject the recommendation. 
The decision of the Sec-
retary shall be final. In all such cases in which a contractor or sub-
contractor may be aggrieved by a final order for the withholding of 
liquidated damages as hereinbefore provided, such contractor or sub-
contractor may, within sixty days after such final order, file a claim 
in the Court of Claims: Provided^ however^ That final orders of the 
agency head, the Commissioners of the District of Columbia or the 
Secretary, as the case may be, shall be conclusive with respect to find-
ings of fact if such findings are supported by substantial evidence. 
(d) Reorganization Plan Numbered 14 of 1950 (15 F.R. 3175; 
64 Stat. 1267) shall be applicable with respect to the provisions of this 
Act, and s&ction 2 of the Act of June 13, 1934, as amended (48 Stat. 
948, 54 Stat. 1236, 63 Stat. 108; 40 U.S.C. 276c), shall be applicable 
72 stat. 967. 
with respect to those contractors and subcontractors referred to therein 
who are engaged in the performance of contracts subject to the pro-
visions of this Act. 
SEC. 105. The Secretary may provide such reasonable limitations 
Limitations, 
and may make such rules and regulations allowing reasonable varia- ^'"P"""*-
tions, tolerances, and exemptions to and from any or all provisions 
of this Act as he may find necessary and proper in the public interest 
to prevent injustice or undue liardship or to avoid serious impairment 
of the conduct of Government business. 
SEC. 106. Any contractor or subcontractor whose duty it shall be to 
violations. 
employ, direct, or control any laborer or mechanic employed in the 
e x -
360 
PUBLIC LAW 87-581-AUG. 13, 1962 
[76 STAT. 
performance of any work contemplated by any contract to which this 
Act applies, who shall intentionally violate any provision of this 
Act, shall be deemed ^ i l t y of a misdemeanor, and for each and every 
Penalty. 
such offense shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not to 
exceed $1,000 or by imprisonment for not more than six months, or by 
both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court having 
jurisdiction thereof. 
TITLE II—MISCELLANEOUS AND EFFECTIVE DATE 
SEC. 20L The proviso of section 23 of the Act of March 28, 1934 
5 use 673c. 
(48 Stat. 509, 622), as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows: 
'•'•Provided^ That the regular hours of labor are hereby established at 
not more than eight per day or forty per week, but work in excess of 
such hours shall be permitted when administratively determined to be 
in the public interest: Provided further^ That overtime work in excess 
of eight hours per day or in excess of forty hours per week shall be 
compensated for at not less than time and one-half the basic rate of 
compensation, except that employees subject to this section who are 
regularly required to remain at or within the confines of their post of 
duty in excess of eight hours per day in a standby or on-call status 
shall be paid overtime rates only for hours of duty, exclusive of eating 
and sleeping time, in excess of forty per week." 
62 Stat. 942. 
SEC. 202. (a) Sectiou 1499 of title 28, United States Code, is hereby 
amended to read as follows: 
Ant«, p. 358. 
37 Stat. 137; 
62 Stat. 989. 
Repeals. 
Effective date. 
"§1499. Liquidated damages withheld from contractors under 
Contract Work Hours Standards Act 
"The Court of Claims shall have jurisdiction to render judgment 
upon any claini for liquidated damages withheld from a contractor or 
subcontractor under section 104 of the Contract Work Hours Stand-
ards Act." 
(b) The Court of Claims shall continue to have jurisdiction to 
render judgment upon any claim for a penalty withheld from a con-
tractor or subcontractor under section 324 of title 40, United States 
(^ode, in connection with any contract subject to said section existing 
on the effective date of this Act, or thereafter entered into pursuant to 
invitations for bids that are outstanding at the time of the enactment 
of this Act. 
'' 
SEC. 203. The following statutes are hereby repealed: Sections 1 and 
2 of the Act of August 1, 1892 (27 Stat. 340; 40 U.S.C. 321, 322), as 
amended by the Act of March 3,1913 (37 Stat. 726) ; sections 892 and 
893 of the Act of March 3, 1901 (31 Stat. 1334; D.C. Code, 1961 
edition, sees. 22-3407, 3408); the Act of June 19, 1912 (37 Stat. 137; 
40 U.S.C. 324, 325), as amended by the Act of June 25,1948 (62 Stat. 
989) ; that portion of the Naval Service Appropriation Act, 1918 (Act 
of March 4,1917,39 Stat. 1192), which is codified as section 326 of title 
40 of the United States Code (1952 edition) ; and section 303 of the 
Second Supplemental Defense Appropriations Act, 1941 (54 Stat. 
884; 40 U.S.C. 325a). The provisions of such statutes shall, notwith-
standing, continue to apply with respect to contracts existing on the 
effective date of this Act or entered into pursuant to invitations for 
bids that are outstanding at the time of the enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 204. This Act shall take effect sixty days after its enactment, 
but shall not affect any contract then existing or any contract that 
may thereafter be entered into pursuant to invitations for bids that 
are outstanding at the time of the enactment of this Act. 
Approved August 13, 1962, 11:46 a.m.