State investigators might ask Lawrence County to make extra payments to past contract workers following an investigation into the county’s prevailing wage obligations.

Tuesday, August 01, 2000

State investigators might ask Lawrence County to make extra payments to past contract workers following an investigation into the county’s prevailing wage obligations.

"We have received eight complaints against the county commissioners dealing with prevailing wage law," said Dennis Gintz, spokesperson for the Ohio Department of Commerce.

In general, the complaints allege that contracts that were bid by the county were not listing prevailing wage rates, Gintz said.

Prevailing wages guarantee a certain amount of hourly pay for specific jobs within government contracts, he said.

"The state is investigating and working with the commissioners to try to rectify the situation," Gintz said. "We have had one productive meeting so far and hope to come to an agreement."

Any agreements may include back pay to workers on the contract jobs, he said.

Commission president Bruce Trent said county staff will work to try "to minimize what we have to pay out."

At least one prevailing wage complaint was made by Kellico Inc. to the Department of Commerce’s wage and hour officials, under the Division of Labor and Worker Safety.

Kellico owner and president Bill Nenni said it’s up to counties to apply for wage and hour rates then make sure they follow them.

"It has to be part of contracts and specifications and it’s up to the county to enforce and see that wage scales are followed," Nenni said.

Kellico filed the complaint over several different projects – Aid ambulance station, a lawyer’s office at the county’s group and shelter home, and work at the board of elections office, which were all paid for by the county, he said.

Prevailing wages allow contractors who bid on jobs to be on equal footing when it comes to wages they must pay their employees, Nenni said.

For example, on the group home job, Kellico was the only bidder twice but another contractor bid the third time and were not told about the prevailing wage, which left Kellico holding a higher bid because it followed that wage scale, he said.

"The wage and hour law is designed to prevent that," Nenni said, adding that contractors need to be on a level playing field when it comes to government jobs.

Nenni also accused the county of circumventing the prevailing wage rules by using its own employees to paint the election board’s new offices.

It means substantial savings to the county but it’s unfair competition, he said.

Trent said the county faces having to pay the difference between what contractors paid their workers on those specific county jobs and what the prevailing wage should have been.

"The prevailing wage officer has not been performing his job and now we’re facing major penalties," he said.

The county must document required wages on projects, require payroll documents from contractors, make construction site visits and perform other oversight, which has not been done in the past, Trent said.

The county’s wage and hour coordinator, Ray Bentley, who was hired in 1996, resigned in June but said he was not given information about several of the bids.

The county commission will continue its dialog with state investigators, Trent said.

Nenni favors state investigations such as in Lawrence County’s case, calling it a statewide problem among local governments.

He also favors back payment of wages, although only workers, not contractors, receive the pay.

"The contractor will not benefit," he said. "They’re putting the system back so it’s equitable to all other contractors."