REVIEW AND RECONSIDERATION
OF WAGE RATES FOR THE DEPARTMENT
OF NAVY, MILITARY SEALIFT COMMAND
REP N00033-00-R-3100 and REP N00033-99-R-3201,
BEFORE: THE ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW BOARD
ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE
Pursuant to 29 C.F.R. §8.2(a), American Maritime Officers (AMO) filed
a petition for review with the Administrative Review Board on May 5, 2000. AMO alleges that on
April 5, 2000, it submitted a request for review and reconsideration to the Administrator, Wage and
Hour Division, challenging wage determinations that had been issued to the Department of Navy,
Military Sealift Command (MSC) in connection with Requests for Proposal N00033-00-R-3100 and
N00033-99-R-3201. See 29 C.F.R. §4.56. AMO objected to the wage determinations
because they did not include classifications and wage rates for officer positions that would be
employed under the contracts.
Section 4.56(a) provides in pertinent part:
(a) Review by the Administrator. (1) Any interested party
affected by a wage determination issued under section 2(a) of the
[McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract] Act may request review and
reconsideration by the Administrator. . . . (2) . . . The Administrator
will render a decision within 30 days of receipt of the request or will
notify the requesting party in writing within 30 days of receipt that
additional time is necessary.
29 C.F.R. §4.56(a). AMO alleges that it is an interested party, as defined in 29 C.F.R.
§8.2(b), because it is a labor organization that represents prospective employees for both
solicitations. AMO further alleges that the Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division did not
issue a decision on AMO's challenge within 30 days of receiving the request for review and
reconsideration, nor did the Administrator notify AMO within 30 days that additional time to issue
a decision was needed, as provided by 29 C.F.R. §4.56(a).
[Page 2]
Pursuant to 29 C.F.R. §4.56(b) "any decision of the Administrator
under [29 C.F.R. §4.56(a)] may be appealed to the Administrative Review Board within 20
days of issuance of the Administrator's decision." A similar time limitation is found in 29
C.F.R. Part 8, which provides that "[r]equests for review of wage determinations must be filed
within 20 days of issuance of the Wage-Hour Administrator's decision denying a request to make
a change in the wage determination." 29 C.F.R. §8.3. It does not appear that the
Administrator affirmatively has issued the requisite "decision denying a request to make a
change in the wage determination"; however, the Administrator's failure to issue within 30
days either a decision or a written notice indicating the need for additional time (29 C.F.R.
§4.56(b)) in effect could be construed as a denial of AMO's request for review and
reconsideration.
The Administrator is ordered to SHOW CAUSE, within fourteen
days from the date of this order, why the Board should not view the failure to issue either a timely
decision on AMO's request or a written notice that additional time to respond was needed to be a
denial of AMO's challenge, and therefore ripe for review by this Board pursuant to 29 C.F.R.
§4.56(b) and 29 C.F.R. Part 8. AMO may reply to the Administrator's response within seven
days of the date on which AMO receives the response.
