§ 1726 Public Work Wage Violations

(a) The body awarding the contract for public work shall take cognizance of violations of this chapter committed in the course of the execution of the contract, and shall promptly report any suspected violations to the Labor Commissioner. (b) If the awarding body determines as a result of its own investigation that there has been a violation of this chapter and withholds contract payments, the procedures in Section 1771.6 shall be followed. (c) A contractor may bring an action in a court of competent jurisdiction to recover from an awarding body the difference between the wages actually paid to an employee and the wages that were required to be paid to an employee under this chapter, any penalties required to be paid under this chapter, and costs and attorney’s fees related to this action, if either of the following is true: (1) The awarding body previously affirmatively represented to the contractor in writing, in the call for bids, or otherwise, that the work to be covered by the bid or contract was not a “public work,” as defined in this chapter. (2) The awarding body received actual written notice from the Department of Industrial Relations that the work to be covered by the bid or contract is a “public work,” as defined in this chapter, and failed to disclose that information to the contractor before the bid opening or awarding of the contract. (Amended by Stats. 2003, Ch. 804, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 2004.)