California Attorney General Opinion 25-601

Syllabus

QUESTIONS: If the Director of the Department of Industrial Relations determines that the prevailing wage for a journey-level classification is the rate set by a collective bargaining agreement, and that agreement provides a separate classification for a foreperson who performs on-site work while supervising the work crew, does the Labor Code require the Director to publish the prevailing wage rate for the foreperson classification? CONCLUSIONS: No. We do not reach a categorical conclusion for all forepersons, but instead evaluate the requestor's definition—\experienced workers who perform on-site work with the tools of the trade while also having responsibility for reading the plans and directing the work of the crew.\ The Labor Code does not require the Director to publish the prevailing wage rate for forepersons as defined by the requestor, because California's prevailing wage law does not cover supervisory work. It is individuals' duties, and not their titles, that determine whether individuals are entitled to prevailing wages, however. That means that forepersons who perform work in a covered craft in addition to performing supervisory work are entitled to wages at no less than the applicable prevailing rate for the work they perform in the craft.