FORT BEND COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) — With a new year comes a new policy in Fort Bend County. The purpose is to ensure contractors assigned to county projects pay workers what they’re supposed to.
“This issue was actually brought by folks from (the Department of Labor). Our partners brought this to us several years ago as a concern of theirs that people were being exploited on job sites, not being paid what they’re supposed to be getting paid, and there have been situations where that’s been the case,” said Dexter McCoy, Fort Bend County Commissioner for Pct. 4.
On Thursday, Fort Bend County commissioners voted unanimously to pass what’s called the prevailing wage policy, which takes effect at the start of the new year.
The policy complies with state law, which requires a minimum wage for workers helping build county projects.
In Fort Bend County, officials say there was no policy in place to ensure that.
Legal experts told Eyewitness News that if contractors don’t have a local policy to follow when working with the county, there’s a chance someone may not get paid fairly.
“If the government opens up the work to a lot of contractors, they are all trying to bid the lowest; they want the work. They are trying to figure out the way to propose to do this work for the lowest possible price. They are going to look for ways to cut corners on labor,” said Richard Carlson, professor at South Texas College of Law.
Fair pay is just one part of the policy. McCoy says contractors must show proof they are playing by the rules.
“We’re holding the contractors responsible. So we look at the prime contractor, and we hold them ultimately responsible for all of their subcontractors. But any of those contractors, upon request, have to provide their payroll records to us.”
So, how is the wage set? McCoy says the Department of Labor keeps data on what specific jobs pay based on the region, and that’s what the county will go by.
If a county is found to be violating state law, there could be penalties.
“They can get subjected to lawsuits. It happens sometimes. People challenge the public contracting authority for not having done this process appropriately. So that has happened in Texas,” said Carlson.
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