FILE NO: 3800-005

DATE: November 3, 1999

TO: Functional Heads, Administration/Finance of all Departments and Agencies

SUBJECT: FAIR WAGES AND HOURS OF LABOUR IN CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS

SUMMARY

NEW REGULATIONS UNDER THE FAIR WAGES AND HOURS OF LABOUR ACT CAME INTO FORCE ON SEPTEMBER 29, 1999. LABOUR CONDITIONS AND FAIR WAGE SCHEDULES WILL BE PREPARED AND DISTRIBUTED TO CONTRACTING AUTHORITIES BY THE LABOUR PROGRAM, HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT CANADA (HRDC). THE LABOUR CONDITIONS DOCUMENT AND THE WAGE SCHEDULE APPROPRIATE FOR THE GEOGRAPHICAL AREA OF THE SITE WHERE THE WORK IS TO BE PERFORMED MUST BE INCLUDED IN THE TENDER PACKAGES (OR REQUESTS FOR PROPOSALS) AND CONTRACT DOCUMENTS FOR ALL FEDERAL CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS WITH A VALUE OF $30,000.00 OR MORE.

BACKGROUND

1. New regulations under the Fair Wages and Hours of Labour Act came into force on September 29, 1999. These regulations provide for the development and use of Labour Conditions documents and Fair Wage Schedules for federal construction projects.

LABOUR CONDITIONS AND FAIR WAGE SCHEDULES

2. Labour Conditions and Fair Wage Schedules will be prepared and distributed to contracting authorities by the Labour Program, Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC). The Labour Conditions document and the wage schedule appropriate for the geographical area of the site where the work is to be performed must be included in the contract documents for all federal construction projects with a value of $30,000.00 or more. The same documents must also be included in the tender packages or requests for proposals. Departments may elect to include those schedules for lower value construction contracts if they so wish.
3. Once a contract is let, the Labour Conditions document and the appropriate Fair Wage Schedules must be posted in prominent locations at the affected site(s). Contracting authorities, as part of their regular contract monitoring activities, should also ensure that these documents are posted.

ENQUIRIES ABOUT THE NEW REGULATIONS

4. For further information concerning the new regulations under the Fair Wages and Hours of Labour Act, you may wish to contact:

   Brenda Lester
   Program Analyst
   Labour Standards & Workplace Equity Labour Program
   Human Resources Development Canada
   Place du Portage, Phase 2, 10^th floor
   165 Hôtel de Ville Street
   Hull, Québec
   K1A 0J2
   Tel.: (819) 953-3183
   Fax: (819) 997-3901
   E-mail: brenda.lester@hrdc-drhc.gc.ca

   or refer to the Internet site:

   http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/en/gateways/nav/top_nav/azindex.shtml 

CONTRACTING POLICY WEB SITE

5. This notice will be incorporated into the electronic version of the Contracting Policy.
6. Online access: All TBS publications are now available online via the TBS home page on GENet. To access this site, type the following in the address section of your World Wide Web browser:

   http://publiservice.tbs-sct.gc.ca/

7. The Government Telecommunications and Informatics Services (GTIS) manages GENet. For help in accessing it, please contact your Informatics Division or your departmental library.
8. The same publications are also available via the TBS home page on the Internet. The address is:

   http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/

9. You will be able to access this Contracting Policy Notice on the home page via "Policies and Publications", where you will find the list of topics in alphabetical order. Click on Contracting Policy Notices and TB Circulars under "Contracting". You will find a list of all Contracting Policy Notices and TB circulars still in effect.

TREASURY BOARD ENQUIRIES

10. For further information, please contact the Procurement Policy Division, Comptrollership Branch, Treasury Board Secretariat at (613) 957-2432, or by fax at (613) 952-1381 or by E-mail at the web site:

Tbs-sct@tbs-sct.gc.ca

 

J. Cochran
Director
Procurement Policy Division
Comptrollership Branch

Distribution: TB06, TB07, T004, T005, T009, T010, T022, T023, T024, T025, T161.