The Service Contract Act, explained

Prevailing wages for service workers on federal contracts

The Service Contract Act (McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act of 1965, 41 U.S.C. chapter 67) requires contractors on federal service contracts over $2,500 to pay service employees at least the locally prevailing wage rates and fringe benefits set out in a DOL wage determination - the service-sector counterpart of the Davis-Bacon Act.

How SCA determinations differ from Davis-Bacon

• Occupations, not trades: SCA determinations list occupational classifications (guards, janitors, technicians, food service, and hundreds more) drawn from the SCA Directory of Occupations, usually per metro area rather than per county.
• A single health-and-welfare rate: instead of per-trade fringes, SCA determinations carry a health-and-welfare benefit rate that DOL updates annually in an All Agency Memorandum - check the current figure via DOL’s SCA pages.
• Vacation and holiday minimums are spelled out in the determination itself.

Where to find SCA rates

SCA determinations are published alongside Davis-Bacon at SAM.gov Wage Determinations - choose the SCA category and your locality. This site indexes every active SCA determination per state with its locality coverage:

AL · AK · AZ · AR · CA · CO · CT · DE · DC · FL · GA · HI · ID · IL · IN · IA · KS · KY · LA · ME · MD · MA · MI · MN · MS · MO · MT · NE · NV · NH · NJ · NM · NY · NC · ND · OH · OK · OR · PA · RI · SC · SD · TN · TX · UT · VT · VA · WA · WV · WI · WY