Court Opinion

ID: 9757293
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 22:29:45.830261+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:28:37.774219
License: Public Domain

DISSENTING OPINION BY
Judge SMITH-RIBNER.
I respectfully dissent from the majority’s decision to reverse the order of the Prevailing Wage Appeals Board because the Court’s reversal unduly limits workers’ protections accorded by the Pennsylvania Prevailing Wage Act (Act), Act of August 15, 1961, P.L. 987, as amended, 43 P.S. §§ 165-1 — 165-17, and by the Department of Labor and Industry’s accompanying regulations. See 34 Pa.Code §§ 9.101-9.112.1 These statutory and regulatory pro*734tections confirm the principle, as once stated by the Court, that under the Act “no justification exists for shifting the risks of doing business onto the workers.” DiLucente Corp. v. Pennsylvania Prevailing Wage Appeals Board, 692 A.2d 295, 298 (Pa.Cmwlth.1997).
Any judicial review of the Board’s order should be conducted with regard to the principle that the overriding purpose of the Act is to protect workers employed on public projects by ensuring that they receive at least the prevailing minimum wage. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers v. Department of Labor and Industry, Prevailing Wage Appeals Board, 816 A.2d 1220 (Pa.Cmwlth.2003), appeal denied, 575 Pa. 699, 836 A.2d 123 (2003). In fight of this principle, I believe the Department’s promulgated regulations, which authorize withholding of payment in a situation such as the one presented here, represent an entirely permissible exercise of its administrative rulemaking power.
To show that an agency’s rulemaking powers have been exceeded, it is not enough to show that a rule appears unwise or burdensome or inferior to another; what must be shown is that the rule is so entirely at odds with fundamental statutory principles as to constitute an expression of whim rather than a legitimate exercise of power. Housing Authority of Chester v. Pennsylvania State Civil Service Commission, 556 Pa. 621, 730 A.2d 935 (1999). Further, where an appellate court reviews statutory interpretations of an agency charged with administering the law, the agency’s interpretations are entitled to deference and should not be overturned except for cogent reasons and only if the interpretations are clearly erroneous. Henkels and McCoy, Inc. v. Department of Labor and Industry, Prevailing Wage Appeals Board, 143 Pa.Cmwlth. 264, 598 A.2d 1065 (1991).
When a worker files a protest objecting to payment to a contractor on account of unpaid wages, the Department shall direct the public body to withhold the sums admitted to be owed by the contractor. Section 10(b) of the Act, 43 P.S. § 165-10(b). The Department’s regulations mandate that the public body “shall ascertain that the wage rates as determined by the Secretary are paid ... otherwise it is his duty to hold up final payment and to inform the Secretary of the failure by the contractor or a subcontractor to comply with the act.” 34 Pa.Code § 9.104(b). Additionally, “[i]t is the duty of the treasurer or other officer charged with the custody and disbursement of. public funds to withhold the amount of wages unpaid or not paid in accordance with § 9.103 for the benefit of the workman whose wages have not been paid by the contractor and he may pay directly to a workman the amount shown to be due him.” 34 Pa.Code § 9.110(b). The Department’s regulations are consistent with the Act and fall squarely within its statutory authority.
Lastly, in addition to stating that “nothing herein shall impair the right of a con*735tractor to receive final payment because of the failure of any subcontractor to comply with provisions of this act,” Section 10(a) also provides that the contractor and subcontractor shall certify, before final payment is made by the public body, that their workers have been paid or if sums have not been paid shall certify the amounts due and the names of the workers to whom payment is owed. Read in conjunction with the Section 10(b) withholding mandate, this reporting requirement protects exactly the funds at issue here. Consequently, I do not read the final sentence of Section 10(a) as an exception to the Act’s protections against a default in payment. At the time of final payment, the public body must disburse all amounts due except those unpaid wages that are guaranteed to the workers.

. The Act mandates that workers shall be paid the prevailing minimum wage and requires the public body to incorporate into any contract statements of the prevailing minimum wage. Sections 4 and 5 of the Act, 43 P.S. §§ 165-4, 165-5; 34 Pa.Code §§ 9.101, *7349.103. Contractors and subcontractors are required keep accurate records of wage payments and to post prevailing minimum wage rates at the workplace. Sections 6 and 9 of the Act, 43 P.S. §§ 165-6, 165-9; 34 Pa.Code §§ 9.108, 9.109. A public body awarding a contract is assigned certain duties to ensure that workers are paid the prevailing wage or that notice is given when workers are paid less than the prevailing wage or are not paid at all. Section 10 of the Act, 43 P.S. § 165-10; 34 Pa.Code §§ 9.104, 9.110. Enforcement procedures include filing worker protests, withholding payments by the public body, Department investigations and hearings and civil actions initiated by workers or the Attorney General. Section 11 of the Act, 43 P.S. § 165-11; 34 Pa.Code §§ 9.104, 9.110-9.112.