The California Labor Code requires that workers employed by contractors or subcontractors in the
execution of public work contracts be paid the State-determined prevailing wage. While the Division of Labor
Standards Enforcement (DLSE), a part of the California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR), remains the
agency primarily responsible for the enforcement of prevailing wage laws “in a manner consistent with the
practice of DLSE (8 CCR 16434),” the Legislature has provided a statutory mechanism since 1989 that permits
political subdivisions of the state which award public works contracts (awarding bodies) to initiate and enforce
their own labor compliance programs (LCPs) in conjunction with the DIR and the DLSE. This is also the case
for school districts. Rather than tasking themselves with the burden of implementing, funding, and managing a
permanent LCP, however, many school districts choose to outsource this responsibility to certified third party
LCPs to meet Prop 47 funding obligations designated for Kindergarten-University Public Education Facilities
construction projects, on a case by case basis.
