Welcome to part two of our post on how to assess whether or not your self-proclaimed prevailing wage expert really is one! As we mentioned in our first post on this subject, there are a lot of questions we like to ask when determining whether someone really is (in our opinion) a prevailing wage and/or Davis-Bacon expert! As a reminder, there are a lot of questions to be asked – so we’ve opted to keep the posts short. When we’re done, we’ll do a compilation of all the questions / areas your prevailing wage and/or Davis-Bacon expert should have expertise in!
Let’s talk compliance. We see this issue come up A LOT. The person setting up your prevailing wage employee benefits plans should (and likely does!) know all the details on how the plans they sell actually work. And, for many people, that’s enough. But we think simply knowing the basics of how prevailing wage employee benefits plans work doesn’t make your salesperson a prevailing wage expert. We always look for people who know WHY the plans are in compliance with state and federal rules and regulations… And this is why. Operation – at its most basic level – is simple. Put money in. Get benefit out. But, when an audit arrives at the customer’s door (whether its a union, a labor compliance company, or a government entity) the first thing they’re going to look for is whether the plan is in compliance… with EVERY law and EVERY regulation. And, if it isn’t… well, we all know where that road leads.
And then there’s the details. We always ask our self-proclaimed prevailing wage experts a lot of questions about the details of how their prevailing wage employee benefits plans actually operate. How would they describe the “funding” of the plan? Does the plan communicate with participants; and, if so, what is the plan legally required to communicate? What about the employee benefit itself – how does the participant receive that and when? How is credit taken and how should that even be calculated? Are there any reductions being taken to fund the plan? If they can answer these questions about the specifics of plan operation, then there’s a good chance you’ve found yourself a prevailing wage and/or Davis-Bacon expert. If, they can’t, well, we’ll leave that for you to answer.
So there you have it. A lot more questions. A lot more to think about as you search for a prevailing wage expert that can help guide your business. We hope you are finding this to be a helpful series. If so, write us and tell us what you think. And, stay tuned for more in the series!