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OPA News Release: [04/20/2006]
Contact Name: Dollie Hatchett
Phone Number: (202) 693-4650
Release Number: 06-0641-NAT

Department of Labor Announces Fifth Edition of Service Contract Act Directory of Occupations

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD) today announced the publication of the fifth edition of the Service Contract Act (SCA) Directory of Occupations.

The directory, a list of occupations most often included in SCA wage determinations, is a valuable tool that standardizes agency requests for wage determinations and provides definitive guidance for contractors to determine how employees working on a contract should be classified and paid.

The fifth edition of the directory was developed with input from numerous contracting agencies and other interested parties. Several basic occupational categories have been expanded with many new occupations, particularly for health occupations and mechanics and maintenance and repair occupations.

Under the SCA, contractors and subcontractors with federal service contracts over $2,500 must pay their service workers no less than the wages and fringe benefits prevailing in the locality. On the date a service employee commences work on a contract in excess of $2,500, the contractor (or subcontractor) must provide the employee with a notice of the compensation required by the act, including any applicable wage determination.

The fifth edition is available at http://www.dol.gov/esa/whd/contracts/sca.htm#guide or through the wage determinations on-line Web site at www.wdol.gov. Individuals wanting a hard copy of the directory may download and print a copy from the Internet or may request a printed copy by writing to the Wage and Hour Division, Office of Wage Determinations, 200 Constitution Ave., N.W., Washington, DC 20210.

The WHD is responsible for administering and enforcing some of the nation's most comprehensive labor laws, including the prevailing wage requirements of the Davis-Bacon Act and the SCA. For more information about these federal labor standards laws, call the Department of Labor's toll-free help line at 1-866-4USWAGE (1-866-487-9243). Information is also available on the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov.

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