Prevailing Wage Amendment Brings a Taste of the 21st Century to the Act

On August 18, 2017, Governor Rauner approved a bill that offers a minor but sensible modification to the Prevailing Wage Act. Public Act 100-0154 amends Section 9 of the Prevailing Wage Act that applies to those public bodies that use the Department of Labor’s determination of prevailing wages – that is, most public bodies. The Act permits the public body to post a hyperlink to the wage schedule for that body that is published on the Department of Labor’s website instead of requiring the body to publish the notice of determination in a newspaper of general circulation in the area.

Unfortunately, this bill does not free the public body from the requirement to mail a copy of its determination to any employer, association of employers or individuals or associations of employees who have asked for a determination of the rates, although this may be increasingly unnecessary with ready access by those parties to this data. However, at least by freeing public bodies of the newspaper publication requirement this amendment should result in a minor reduction in the local cost of administering the Act.