WASHINGTON
7)
Enforcement: what are the penalties for violations? Criminal
or fines?
A.) If any agency of the state, or any county,
municipality, or political subdivision created by its laws shall
knowingly fail to comply with the provisions of RCW 39.12.040
as now or hereafter amended, such agency of the state, or county,
municipality, or political subdivision created by its laws,
shall be liable to all workers, laborers, or mechanics to the
full extent and for the full amount of wages due, pursuant to
the prevailing wage requirements of RCW 39.12.020. (RCW 39.12.042)
B.) Any contractor or subcontractor who files a false statement
or fails to file any statement or record required to be filed
under this chapter and the rules adopted under this chapter,
shall, after a determination to that effect has been issued
by the director after hearing under chapter 34.05 RCW, forfeit
as a civil penalty the sum of five hundred dollars for each
false filing or failure to file, and shall not be permitted
to bid, or have a bid considered, on any public works contract
until the penalty has been paid in full to the director. The
civil penalty under this subsection shall not apply to a violation
determined by the director to be an inadvertent filing or reporting
error. Civil penalties shall be deposited in the public works
administration account. (RCW 39.12.050)To the extent that a
contractor or subcontractor has not paid wages at the rate due
pursuant to RCW 39.12.020, and a finding to that effect has
been made as provided by this subsection, such unpaid wages
shall constitute a lien against the bonds and retainage as provided
in RCW 18.27.040, 19.28.041, 39.08.010, and 60.28.010. (RCW
39.12.050)(2) If a contractor or subcontractor is found to have
violated the provisions of subsection (1) of this section for
a second time within a five year period, the contractor or subcontractor
shall be subject to the sanctions prescribed in subsection (1)
of this section and shall not be allowed to bid on any public
works contract for one year. The one year period shall run from
the date of notice by the director of the determination of noncompliance.
When an appeal is taken from the director's determination, the
one year period shall commence from the date of the final determination
of the appeal.The director shall issue his or her findings that
a contractor or subcontractor has violated the provisions of
this subsection after a hearing held subject to the provisions
of chapter 34.05 RCW. (RCW 39.12.050)
C.) A contractor or subcontractor that is found,
in accordance with subsection (1) of this section, to have violated
the requirement to pay the prevailing rate of wage shall be
subject to a civil penalty of not less than one thousand dollars
or an amount equal to twenty percent of the total prevailing
wage violation found on the contract, whichever is greater,
and shall not be permitted to bid, or have a bid considered,
on any public works contract until such civil penalty has been
paid in full to the director. If a contractor or subcontractor
is found to have participated in a violation of the requirement
to pay the prevailing rate of wage for a second time within
a five-year period, the contractor or subcontractor shall be
subject to the sanctions prescribed in this subsection and as
an additional sanction shall not be allowed to bid on any public
works contract for two years. Civil penalties shall be deposited
in the public works administration account. If a previous or
subsequent violation of a requirement to pay a prevailing rate
of wage under federal or other state law is found against the
contractor or subcontractor within five years from a violation
under this section, the contractor or subcontractor shall not
be allowed to bid on any public works contract for two years.
A contractor or subcontractor shall not be barred from bidding
on any public works contract if the contractor or subcontractor
relied upon written information from the department to pay a
prevailing rate of wage that is later determined to be in violation
of this chapter. The civil penalty and sanctions under this
subsection shall not apply to a violation determined by the
director to be an inadvertent filing or reporting error. To
the extent that a contractor or subcontractor has not paid the
prevailing wage rate under a determination issued as provided
in subsection (1) of this section, the unpaid wages shall constitute
a lien against the bonds and retainage as provided herein and
in RCW 18.27.040, 19.28.041, 39.08.010, and 60.28.010. (RCW
39.12.065)
