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1.
What is this survey for and
whose idea was it to conduct it?
2. Do I have to complete
the survey and if I don’t, what is the penalty?
3. Our company does not
work on public works projects so do I still have to report?
4. Can I use last year’s survey form?
5.
I lost/didn’t get the survey form. What
do I do?
6. Do we have to report every single
project?
7. Can several projects be reported on one line?
8. What is a “public project”?
9. Do I report projects performed outside the
State of Wisconsin?
10. What if I don’t know the exact location of a
project?
11.
Do I report projects that are
still underway during the survey reporting period?
12. I install residential septic systems. Is
that project type B (sewer, water or tunnel construction) work?
13. Do I have to report every employee?
14.
What is a “journeyperson?”
15.
How do we report helpers,
foremen, apprentices, pre-apprentices, etc.?
16.
Can we use an average for the pay rate,
fringe benefits or hours?
17.
How do I report employees who are on
salary or paid on a “piece-work” basis?
18. Do I report shop/travel time?
19. My employees do everything. Do I just
call them “laborers?”
20.
How do I report workers who work in
more than one job classification?
21. I’m the owner of the company. Do I
report my hours?
22. Do I report temporary/part-time
employees?
23. Do I report clerical/office workers?
24. How do I figure/calculate fringe
benefits?
25.
What fringe benefits do I report? Do
I report Social Security, FICA, etc.?
26. How do I report overtime hours?
27. What does the column “union” mean?
28. Does the department provide a disk or program
to submit electronically?
29.
Can I use punctuation marks in my survey
information provided on the disk?
30. Can I get an extension on the deadline
date?
31.
I’ve made an error on my survey form that I
have already sent to the department. How can I correct this?
32. Can anybody see what I submit? Is it
confidential?
33. Where do I send the completed survey
form?
Answer: The purpose of the prevailing wage
rate survey is to establish wage rates that are normally paid in an area to
construction workers.
Several years ago the department met on numerous occasions with a focus
group representing multiple organizations affected by Wisconsin’s prevailing
wage laws to study changes needed to improve the administration of such laws.
The decision to conduct annual surveys was unanimously decided by all parties
involved and passed into law by the legislature.
Answer: Yes. By law you are required to complete and return the annual prevailing wage rate survey form but there is no monetary penalty if you do not. Failure to complete and return the survey, however, eliminates your opportunity to influence the prevailing wage rates established for public works projects the following year.
Answer: Yes. The prevailing wage rates are predominantly based upon wages paid on private construction projects.
Answer: No. The pre-assigned form number changes annually. The use of a past year’s form may preclude the department from using your information.
Answer: Call (608) 267-9331 from June through October only to obtain a new form.
Answer: Ideally you should report all projects to reflect the most realistic wage rate information. However, if it is not feasible to do so give priority to projects with the greatest number of reportable hours and those done in counties in which you have the greatest interest.
Answer:
Projects located in several municipalities but still in the same county
can be reported on one line for residential or agricultural construction
(project type E) only.
By combining project information in
various municipalities within a single county on one line, the ability to use
such information in an administrative review is lost.
Under no circumstances should you combine projects in more than one
county on the same line.
Answer: A “public project” is one that is subject to predetermined state or federal wage rates from the State of Wisconsin, a local governmental unit or the U.S. Department of Labor. The term “public project” DOES NOT mean that it is merely open to or used by the public.
Answer: No. Only report projects on which your employees performed construction work in the state of Wisconsin.
Answer: At a minimum you must report the correct county where the work was done. If you do not know the correct county, do not report the project.
Answer: Yes. Report all hours worked-to-date during the survey reporting period.
Answer: No. The installation of residential septic systems must be reported as project type E (residential or agricultural construction) work.
Answer: Ideally you should report all journeypersons you employ on each project that you report. However, if it is not feasible to do so you should report as many as you can especially in the counties in which you have the greatest interest. Also see the answer to Question 15.
Answer: A journeyperson is a worker who is normally proficient in a particular trade at all levels. They may have served an apprenticeship or may have gained an equivalent level of proficiency through experience or training to learn their skills.
Answer: Don’t. Report only journeypersons.
Answer:
No. Under no circumstances should you average rates of pay or fringe benefits.
Report actual hourly wage rates and fringe benefits paid.
Total hours must be reported for each rate
of pay on each project. In the absence of the exact number of hours, come up
with your best conservative estimate. Your records must substantiate the hours
you report.
Answer: An employee’s salary or piece-rate must be converted to an hourly cash equivalent for each hour worked. Only report if the conversion to an hourly cash equivalent is feasible. You cannot average the hourly wages.
Answer: No. Only report hours worked on the job site.
Answer: No. You must report your workers’ classifications according to the actual work they perform on the project, e.g., as a carpenter, plumber, electrician, etc. See the Dictionary of Occupational Classifications at the following website: http://dwd.wisconsin.gov/er/prevailing_wage_rate/Dictionary/dictionary_main.htm
Answer: If a worker is performing more than one job classification on one project you must report each of these classifications on a separate line.
Answer: No.
Answer: Do not report the hours worked by temporary workers who are on the payroll of a “temporary help agency.” However, all employees, both temporary, part-time and full-time who are on your payroll, should be reported.
Answer: No. Only employees who perform manual labor on the project site should be reported.
Answer: To convert the cost of a fringe benefit that was paid weekly, divide the cost of such benefit by 40 hours. To convert the cost of a fringe benefit that was paid monthly, divide the cost of such benefit by 173 hours. To convert the cost of a fringe benefit that was paid annually, divide the cost of such benefit by 2080 hours. If an employee did not earn any fringe benefits on the reported project, please enter “0.”
Answer: Normally only those payments that directly benefit the employee are considered economic fringe benefits such as vacation or holiday pay, health insurance, pension, etc. Payments required by law are not considered economic fringe benefits and cannot be reported.
Answer: Include the overtime hours worked by your employees on each project but only report the hours at the straight time wage rate.
Answer: The checking of “yes” or “no” in this column indicates whether the employer is voluntarily paying the employee according to the terms of a collective bargaining agreement.
Answer: No and Yes. The department does not provide a disk. Several union organizations and other contractor associations provide a program disk for survey reporting purposes. The department has an online survey application that you can use if your computer has Excel software. To use the department’s PW Web Based Survey go to this link: http://dwd.wisconsin.gov/er/prevailing_wage_rate/pw_online.htm
Answer: No. Do not use punctuation marks anywhere in the survey, other than decimal points in the wage rate or fringe benefit columns.
Answer: No. You must meet the deadline date required on the survey form.
Answer: Errors discovered should be corrected immediately in writing to the department. You may do so by striking through the erroneous information and writing the correct information above it in red ink. You should attach a cover letter to the corrected survey form to alert the department that you are correcting information that has already been submitted.
Answer: All survey information received by the department is subject to Wisconsin’s Open Records Law.
Answer: The address is Labor Standards Bureau, P.O. Box 7887, Madison, WI 53707-7887. You will also find the address at the top of the survey form and on the cover of your survey booklet. If you completed your survey electronically, you may e-mail your data. Follow the e-mail instructions found on the department’s PW Web Based Survey on line.
Updated May 19, 2009 by the Equal Rights Division