2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXI - Labor and Industries › Chapter 149 - Labor and Industries › Section 27 - List of Jobs; Classification; Schedule of Wages; Penalty; Civil Action

Section 27. The commissioner shall prepare, for the use of such public officials or public bodies whose duty it shall be to cause public works to be constructed, a list of the several jobs usually performed on various types of public works upon which mechanics and apprentices, teamsters, chauffeurs and laborers are employed, including the transportation of gravel or fill to the site of said public works or the removal of surplus gravel or fill from such site. The commissioner shall classify said jobs, and he may revise such classification from time to time, as he may deem advisable. Prior to awarding a contract for the construction of public works, said public official or public body shall submit to the commissioner a list of the jobs upon which mechanics and apprentices, teamsters, chauffeurs and laborers are to be employed, and shall request the commissioner to determine the rate of wages to be paid on each job. Each year after the awarding of the contract, the public official or public body shall submit to the commissioner a list of the jobs upon which mechanics and apprentices and laborers are to be employed and shall request that the commissioner update the determination of the rate of wages to be paid on each job. The general contractor shall annually obtain updated rates from the public official or public body and no contactor or subcontractor shall pay less than the rates so established. Said rates shall apply to all persons engaged in transporting gravel or fill to the site of said public works or removing gravel or fill from such site, regardless of whether such persons are employed by a contractor or subcontractor or are independent contractors or owner-operators. The commissioner, subject to the provisions of section twenty-six, shall proceed forthwith to determine the same, and shall furnish said official or public body with a schedule of such rate or rates of wages as soon as said determination shall have been made. In advertising or calling for bids for said works, the awarding official or public body shall incorporate said schedule in the advertisement or call for bids by an appropriate reference thereto, and shall furnish a copy of said schedule, without cost, to any person requesting the same. Said schedule shall be made a part of the contract for said works and shall continue to be the minimum rate or rates of wages for said employees during the life of the contract. Any person engaged in the construction of said works shall cause a legible copy of said schedule and subsequent updates to be kept posted in a conspicuous place at the site of said works during the life of the contract. An apprentice performing work on a project subject to this section shall maintain in his possession an apprentice identification card issued pursuant to section 11W of chapter 23. The aforesaid rates of wages in the schedule of wage rates shall include payments by employers to health and welfare plans, pension plans and supplementary unemployment benefit plans as provided in said section twenty-six, and such payments shall be considered as payments to persons under this section performing work as herein provided. Any employer engaged in the construction of such works who does not make payments to a health and welfare plan, a pension plan and a supplementary unemployment benefit plan, where such payments are included in said rates of wages, shall pay the amount of said payments directly to each employee engaged in said construction. Whoever shall pay less than said rate or rates of wages, including payments to health and welfare funds and pension funds, or the equivalent payment in wages, on said works to any person performing work within classifications as determined by the commissioner, and whoever, for himself, or as representative, agent or officer of another, shall take or receive for his own use or the use of any other person, as a rebate, refund or gratuity, or in any other guise, any part or portion of the wages, including payments to health and welfare funds and pension funds, or the equivalent payment in wages, paid to any such person for work done or service rendered on said public works, shall have violated this section and shall be punished or shall be subject to a civil citation or order as provided in section 27C. The president and treasurer of a corporation and any officers or agents having the management of such corporation shall also be deemed to be employers of the employees of any corporation within the meaning of sections 26 to 27B, inclusive.
Offers of restitution or payment of restitution shall not be considered in imposing such punishment.
When an investigation by the attorney general's office reveals that a contractor or subcontractor has violated this section by failing to pay said rate or rates of wages, including payments to health and welfare funds and pension funds, or the equivalent payment in wages, on said works to any person performing work within classifications as determined by the commissioner, or that a contractor or subcontractor has, for himself, or as representative, agent or officer of another, taken or received for his own use or the use of any other person, as a rebate, refund or gratuity, or in any other guise, any portion of the wages, including payments to health and welfare funds and pension funds, or the equivalent payment in wages, paid to any such person for work done or service rendered on said public works, the attorney general may, upon written notice to the contractor or subcontractor and the sureties of the contractor or subcontractor, and after a hearing thereon, order work halted on the part of the contract on which such wage violations occurred, until the defaulting contractor or subcontractor has filed with the attorney general's office a bond in the amount of such penal sum as the attorney general shall determine, conditioned upon payment of said rate or rates of wages, including payments to health and welfare funds and pension funds, or the equivalent payment in wages, on said works to any person performing work within classifications as determined by the commissioner.
An employee claiming to be aggrieved by a violation of this section may, 90 days after the filing of a complaint with the attorney general, or sooner if the attorney general assents in writing, and within 3 years after the violation, institute and prosecute in his own name and on his own behalf, or for himself and for others similarly situated, a civil action for injunctive relief, for any damages incurred, and for any lost wages and other benefits. An employee so aggrieved who prevails in such an action shall be awarded treble damages, as liquidated damages, for any lost wages and other benefits and shall also be awarded the costs of the litigation and reasonable attorneys' fees.