
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 23, 2000]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 23, 2000 and December 4, 2001]
[CITE: 40USC330]

 
             TITLE 40--PUBLIC BUILDINGS, PROPERTY, AND WORKS
 
          CHAPTER 5--HOURS OF LABOR AND SAFETY ON PUBLIC WORKS
 
         SUBCHAPTER II--CONTRACT WORK HOURS AND SAFETY STANDARDS
 
Sec. 330. Report of violations and withholding of funds for 
        unpaid wages and liquidated damages
        

(a) Reports of inspectors; determination of amount of unpaid wages and 
        liquidated damages; authorization for direct payments by 
        Comptroller General

    Any officer or person designated as inspector of the work to be 
performed under any contract of the character specified in section 329 
of this title, or to aid in the enforcement or fulfillment thereof 
shall, upon observation or investigation, forthwith report to the proper 
officer of the United States, of any territory or possession, or of the 
District of Columbia, all violations of the provisions of this 
subchapter occurring in the performance of such work, together with the 
name of each laborer or mechanic who was required or permitted to work 
in violation of such provisions and the day or days of such violation. 
The amount of unpaid wages and liquidated damages owing under the 
provisions of this subchapter shall be administratively determined and 
the officer or person whose duty it is to approve the payment of moneys 
by the United States, the territory, or the District of Columbia in 
connection with the performance of the contract work shall direct the 
amount of such liquidated damages to be withheld for the use and benefit 
of the United States, said territory, or said District, and shall direct 
the amount of such unpaid wages to be withheld for the use and benefit 
of the laborers and mechanics who were not compensated as required under 
the provisions of this subchapter. The Comptroller General of the United 
States is authorized and directed to pay directly to such laborers and 
mechanics, from the sums withheld on account of underpayments of wages, 
the respective amounts administratively determined to be due, if the 
funds withheld are adequate, and, if not, an equitable proportion of 
such amounts.

(b) Rights of action and intervention against contractors and sureties

    If the accrued payments withheld under the terms of the contracts, 
as aforesaid, are insufficient to reimburse all the laborers and 
mechanics with respect to whom there has been a failure to pay the wages 
required pursuant to this subchapter, such laborers and mechanics shall, 
in the case of a department or agency of the Federal Government, have 
the rights of action and/or of intervention against the contractor and 
his sureties conferred by law upon persons furnishing labor or 
materials, and in such proceedings it shall be no defense that such 
laborers and mechanics accepted or agreed to accept less than the 
required rate of wages or voluntarily made refunds.

(c) Right of contractors to appeal; limitations; administrative 
        determination; review by Secretary and issuance of final 
        decision; filing claim in United States Court of Federal Claims

    Any contractor or subcontractor aggrieved by the withholding of a 
sum as liquidated damages as provided in this subchapter shall have the 
right, within sixty days thereafter, to appeal to the head of the agency 
of the United States or of the territory for which the contract work is 
done or by which financial assistance for the work is provided, or to 
the Mayor of the District of Columbia in the case of liquidated damages 
withheld for the use and benefit of said District. Such agency head or 
Mayor, as the case may be, shall have authority to review the 
administrative determination of liquidated damages and to issue a final 
order affirming such determination; or, if it is found that the sum 
determined is incorrect or that the contractor or subcontractor violated 
the provisions of this subchapter inadvertently notwithstanding the 
exercise of due care on his part and that of his agents, recommendations 
may be made to the Secretary that an appropriate adjustment in 
liquidated damages be made, or that the contractor or subcontractor be 
relieved of liability for such liquidated damages. The Secretary shall 
review all pertinent facts in the matter and may conduct such 
investigations as he deems necessary, so as to affirm or reject the 
recommendation. The decision of the Secretary shall be final. In all 
such cases in which a contractor or subcontractor may be aggrieved by a 
final order for the withholding of liquidated damages as hereinbefore 
provided, such contractor or subcontractor may, within sixty days after 
such final order, file a claim in the United States Court of Federal 
Claims: Provided, however, That final orders of the agency head, the 
Mayor of the District of Columbia or the Secretary, as the case may be, 
shall be conclusive with respect to findings of fact if such findings 
are supported by substantial evidence.

(d) Applicability of other laws

    Reorganization Plan Numbered 14 of 1950 (64 Stat. 1267) shall be 
applicable with respect to the provisions of this subchapter, and 
section 276c of this title, shall be applicable with respect to those 
contractors and subcontractors referred to therein who are engaged in 
the performance of contracts subject to the provisions of this 
subchapter.

(Pub. L. 87-581, title I, Sec. 104, Aug. 13, 1962, 76 Stat. 358; 1967 
Reorg. Plan No. 3, Sec. 401, eff. Nov. 3, 1967, 32 F.R. 11669, 81 Stat. 
951; Pub. L. 93-198, title IV, Sec. 421, Dec. 24, 1973, 87 Stat. 789; 
Pub. L. 97-164, title I, Sec. 160(a)(13), Apr. 2, 1982, 96 Stat. 48; 
Pub. L. 102-572, title IX, Sec. 902(b)(1), Oct. 29, 1992, 106 Stat. 
4516.)

                       References in Text

    Reorganization Plan Numbered 14 of 1950, referred to in subsec. (d), 
is Reorg. Plan No. 14 of 1950, eff. May 24, 1950, 15 F.R. 3176, 64 Stat. 
1267, which is set out in the Appendix to Title 5, Government 
Organization and Employees.


                               Amendments

    1992--Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 102-572 substituted ``United States Court 
of Federal Claims'' for ``United States Claims Court''.
    1982--Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 97-164 substituted ``United States Claims 
Court'' for ``Court of Claims''.


                    Effective Date of 1992 Amendment

    Amendment by Pub. L. 102-572 effective Oct. 29, 1992, see section 
911 of Pub. L. 102-572, set out as a note under section 171 of Title 28, 
Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.


                    Effective Date of 1982 Amendment

    Amendment by Pub. L. 97-164 effective Oct. 1, 1982, see section 402 
of Pub. L. 97-164, set out as a note under section 171 of Title 28, 
Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.

                          Transfer of Functions

    Except as otherwise provided in Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1967, functions 
of Board of Commissioners of District of Columbia transferred to 
Commissioner of District of Columbia by section 401 of Reorg. Plan No. 3 
of 1967. Office of Commissioner of District of Columbia, as established 
by Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1967, abolished as of noon Jan. 2, 1975, by Pub. 
L. 93-198, title VII, Sec. 711, Dec. 24, 1973, 87 Stat. 818, and 
replaced by office of Mayor of District of Columbia by section 421 of 
Pub. L. 93-198, classified to section 1-241 of District of Columbia 
Code. Accordingly, ``Mayor'' substituted in subsec. (c) for 
``commissioners''.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in sections 328, 333 of this title; 
title 28 section 1499.
