Court Opinion

ID: 9693838
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 17:03:01.714263+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:08:14.076425
License: Public Domain

ZAPPALA, Justice,
concurring.
I agree with the majority that the payroll records that were in the possession of the school district were “public records” for purposes of the “right to know” statute, Act of June 21, 1957, P.L. 390, §§ 1-4, 65 P.S. §§ 66.1-66.4. I write separately to note that nothing in the language of either the Prevailing Wage Act, Act of August 15, 1961, P.L. 987, § 1 et seq., as amended, 43 P.S. § 165-1 et seq., or the regulations implementing that Act, 34 Pa.Code § 9.101 et seq., appears to require that a contractor submit its payroll records to the public body.
Under the Act, contractors and subcontractors are required “to keep an accurate record showing the name, craft and the actual hourly wage paid to each workman employed by him in connection with public work.... The record shall be open at all reasonable hours to the inspection of the public body *113awarding the contract and to the [Secretary [of Labor and Industry].” 43 P.S. § 165-6. The regulations provide that contractors and subcontractors “shall file a statement each week and a final statement at the conclusion of the work ... under oath, and in form satisfactory to the [Secretary [of Labor and Industry], certifying that all workmen have been paid wages in strict conformity with the provisions of the contract as prescribed by [§ 9.103 of the regulations], or if any wages remain unpaid to set forth the amount of wages due and owing to each workman respectively.” Section 9.103 of the regulations, particularly subsection (8), mirrors the language of the Act, stating, “The contract shall provide that the contractor and subcontractors shall keep an accurate record showing the name, craft or classification, number of hours worked per day and the actual hourly rate of wage paid, including employee benefits, to each workman employed by him in connection with the public work... . The record shall be preserved for 2 years from the date of payment and shall be open at all reasonable hours to the inspection of the public body awarding the contract and to the Secretary or his authorized representatives.”
The language of the Act and the regulations, it would seem, contemplate the contractor retaining its payroll records and making them available to specified parties. However the practice of having the contractor submit its payroll records to the public body may have developed in this or any other case, it does not appear to be required by the Prevailing Wage Act itself.