Davis-Bacon (Prevailing Wage)
Baden Retirement Plan Services is an independent third party administrator (TPA) of Davis-Bacon Prevailing Wage Retirement Plans. Our services for Davis-Bacon Prevailing Wage Retirement Plans include, among others:
- Davis-Bacon Prevailing Wage Plan Document
- Davis-Bacon Prevailing Wage Plan Administration
- Davis-Bacon Prevailing Wage Plan Compliance Testing
- Davis-Bacon Prevailing Wage Plan Consultation
- Davis-Bacon Prevailing Wage Plan Daily Valuation and Recordkeeping
- Davis-Bacon Prevailing Wage Plan Form 5500
- Davis-Bacon Prevailing Wage Plan Design
The plan is named after the Davis-Bacon Act which was signed into law in 1931. The Act requires any contractor bidding on a government construction project in excess of $2,000 to pay workers at a Prevailing union wage”, even if the employer did not employ union workers.
The prevailing wage is based on area union wages and fringe benefits. Employer retirement contributions, or pension benefits, are one of the fringe benefits addressed by the Davis-Bacon Act.Davis-Bacon Prevailing Wage Retirement Plan compliance is monitored by the wage and hour division of the
Department of Labor and must also operate in compliance with the
Internal Revenue Code. Unlike other tax qualified retirement plans, the Davis-Bacon Prevailing Wage Retirement Plan requirements for establishing the plan are not provided by the Internal Revenue Code nor the Department of Labor’s Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).
- Typical number of employees in the plan: Unlimited number of eligible employees.
- Features: Generally, the plan must provide for immediate eligibility and full immediate vesting. Contributions to retirement fringe benefit plans must be made at least quarterly. Keeping accurate records of hours worked is especially critical for the Davis-Bacon portion of a retirement plan in order to determine when termination of employment occurred. Because of the variable nature of scheduling workers for a construction project, an employer might choose to treat contractual employees as long-term seasonal staff rather than short-term temporary staff. Similar to other types of retirement plans, nondiscrimination testing must be done to ensure that benefits do not favor highly compensated employees (HCEs). Any corrective methods used to correct a failed nondiscrimination test cannot result in the forfeiture by the employee of any of his Davis-Bacon contributions. Davis-Bacon plans can be designed to include hardship withdrawals and loans, similar to other types of retirement plans.
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