Federal contractors must pay prevailing wages for construction on leased buildings

The US General Services Administration (GSA) wants to expand federal construction labor rules to cover work done on buildings leased by the government. This means contractors doing construction on GSA-leased properties will have to pay workers local prevailing wages and provide sick leave.

For decades, federal labor rules for construction, like prevailing wage requirements, only applied to buildings the government owned directly. This created a loophole where contractors could pay lower wages for similar work if the government was leasing the building instead of owning it. This proposed rule closes that loophole, ensuring that workers on GSA-leased projects receive the same protections as those on GSA-owned projects.