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Massachusetts Prevailing Wage: 2026 Update

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Construction workers paving a roadThe Massachusetts Prevailing Wage Law requires employers to pay employees “prevailing wages” for work on public works projects, like schools and libraries.  The prevailing wage rate is an hourly rate of pay that is usually higher than an employee’s regular hourly rate.  For example, a carpenter working on a school construction project in Boston is usually due a prevailing wage rate of over $90 per hour.

For workers in Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Prevailing Wage Law remains a strict liability statute. Unlike other employment claims that may hinge on intent or willfulness, prevailing wage violations are binary: either the correct rate was paid for every hour worked, or it was not.

Under the Prevailing Wage Law, M.G.L. c. 149, § 27, and Overtime Law, M.G.L. c. 151, § 1B, unpaid prevailing wage and overtime are subject to mandatory treble damages and attorneys’ fees.

The following points outline the standards as of 2026, highlighting the specific calculation errors that most frequently lead to recoverable damages.

1 – Failing To Pay The Correct Rate

A common issue we see is employers who simply fail to pay employees working on public works projects the prevailing wage rate and instead just pay them their normal hourly rate.  If you perform work on a public project – like a school, library, police station, or town hall – and you are receiving the same hourly rate you normally receive, there is a good chance your employer is not paying you the prevailing wage. The difference between your normal rate and the prevailing wage rate can be significant.

2 – The “Actual Cost” Rule for Benefits

A common source of underpayment of prevailing wages involves the improper deduction of fringe benefits. The prevailing wage rate is a composite of a “cash” component and a “benefits” component.

Employers are permitted to satisfy the total rate through a combination of cash wages and contributions to bona fide benefit plans (health, pension, etc.). However, the statute limits the deduction to the employer’s actual cost.

  • The Calculation: Total Prevailing Rate – Actual Benefit Cost = Cash Wage Due.

If a project rate is $75.00/hour:

  • An employer paying $5.00/hour in verified health premiums must pay a cash wage of $70.00/hour.
  • An employer providing no benefits must pay the full $75.00/hour in cash.

We have seen employers deduct a flat “market rate” or a standardized union equivalent (e.g., crediting $25.00/hour for benefits) when the actual cost of their plan is significantly lower. The difference between the credit taken and the actual cost is considered unpaid wages.

3 – Overtime Calculation Anomalies

Overtime compliance on public works differs from standard private sector calculations. Under Massachusetts law, overtime is calculated at 1.5 times the cash rate the employer is obligated to pay, not necessarily the total prevailing wage figure.

This creates a variable overtime rate depending on the benefits package. Using the $75.00 example above:

  • If the employer pays no benefits, the cash rate is $75.00. The overtime rate is $112.50/hour ($75.00 x 1.5).
  • If the employer pays $5.00 in benefits, the cash rate is $70.00. The overtime rate is $105.00/hour ($70.00 x 1.5).

Payroll systems that apply a standard multiplier to a base rate without adjusting for the specific cash/benefit mix often underpay overtime. These discrepancies are systematic and accumulate rapidly over the course of a project. These claims can often be brought as class actions.

Similarly, if you work overtime in a week in which you receive both regular hourly pay and prevailing wage payments, your employer is required to calculate your overtime based on a blended rate of the two.  If instead your employer uses only your regular hourly rate to calculate overtime wages, that will result in an underpayment of overtime wages and a violation of the Overtime Law.

4 – Emergency Work and Small Jobs

Sometimes public entities contract for emergency work to be completed, like patching a roof after a storm. Or a public entity may have a small job that needs to be completed – like replacing a faucet. It is important to know that there are no emergency waivers for prevailing wage applicability or an exemption for “small” jobs. In fact, awarding authorities are often issued “Incidental Rate Sheets” (typically valid for 6 to 12 months) specifically to cover unanticipated work and/or small jobs.

If a worker performs construction or repair work on a public facility, they are owed the prevailing rate, regardless of whether the job was bid out or performed on an emergency basis. The lack of a posted rate sheet does not absolve the employer of liability.

5 – Apprentice Misclassification

Sometimes employers employ “apprentices” on public works projects – these are individuals who receive on-the-job training for a particular trade. The differential between the apprentice rate and the non-apprentice (sometimes called “journeyman”) rate is significant, often exceeding $30 or $40 per hour. To legally pay a worker the lower apprentice rate, the individual must be actively registered with the Massachusetts Division of Apprentice Standards (DAS).

Possessing an apprentice card from another state or being enrolled in a private training program is insufficient. If the worker is not registered with the Massachusetts DAS for the specific trade, they are legally classified as a journeyman and entitled to the higher rate.

In these instances, the damages are calculated as the difference between the apprentice rate paid and the full journeyman rate owed for all hours worked.

Statutory Remedies

Violations of the prevailing wage law are enforced through M.G.L. c. 149, § 27 and the Massachusetts Wage Act, M.G.L. c. 149, § 150.

Because the statute imposes strict liability, the employer’s intent is not a factor in determining damages. A plaintiff who establishes underpayment is entitled to:

  • Mandatory Treble Damages: The unpaid wage amount is tripled automatically.
  • Attorneys’ Fees and Costs: The statute mandates fee shifting for successful plaintiffs.

If you have performed work a public facility and are concerned that your employer has not paid you the prevailing wage rate for your work, contact us for a free case evaluation.

ARE YOU REALLY AN APPRENTICE AND GETTING THE RIGHT RATE?

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Journeyman electrician apprentice rate for prevailing wage in Massachusetts

Apprenticeships are vital components to traditional building and construction trade jobs such as carpenters, plumbers, electricians, masons, and sheet metal workers.  They provide hands-on experience in a structured work-based training environment.

Under Massachusetts Prevailing Wage Law workers on certain jobs involving the state, counties, or local cities and towns must receive prevailing wage (often called “the rate” on job sites).  This includes apprentices working on those same jobs.  The law exists so companies don’t win job bids – and get public money — on the backs of their employees by driving down their wages.

If you are an apprentice, you should be paid the corresponding apprentice prevailing wage rate for your job classification and your step.  The actual hourly rate is set by the Department of Labor Standards (“DLS”).  See G.L. c. 149, § 26.  Prevailing wage jobs typically involve work on libraries, public or charter schools, police or fire stations, town halls, and other public buildings.  The point of this article is that you may not be receiving the correct prevailing wage rate.

An “apprentice” has special meaning under the prevailing wage laws in Massachusetts.

Employers on prevailing wage projects may not merely label their inexperienced, or newer workers, apprentices.  They also cannot “try you out” and pay you as an apprentice to start with a promise of a higher rate “if you work out.”

Instead, Massachusetts law has set out some requirements before you can be paid as an apprentice.  You must meet the Massachusetts legal definition of an apprentice, which is, “a person at least 16 years of age who has entered an apprentice agreement with an employer, or an association of employers, or an organization of employees, or other apprentice program sponsor.”  G.L. c. 23, § 11H.  Your apprentice agreement must be written, between you and an apprentice program sponsor, and be registered with the Department of Labor Standards, Division of Apprentice Standards.  The agreement must, among other things, provide “for not less than 2,000 hours of reasonably continuous employment, consistent with training requirements as established by industry practice, in the [apprenticed] occupation.”  Id.  Additionally, the program sponsor must also register its program with the Department of Labor Standards, Division of Apprentice Standards.

Failure to comply with the definitions contained in General Laws, Chapter 23, Section 11H, results in underpayment of the prevailing wage.  As DLS warns on its project rate sheets:

All apprentices working on [a] project are required to be registered with the Massachusetts Department of Labor Standards, Division of Apprentice Standards (DLS/DAS) . . . An apprentice registered with DAS may be paid the lower apprentice wage rate at the applicable step as provided on the prevailing wage schedule.  Any apprentice not registered with DLS/DAS regardless of whether or not they are registered with any other federal, state, local, or private agency must be paid the journeyworker’s rate for the trade.

Read the above again. If your employer is casual about the requirements for apprenticeship registration or standards, you have the right to the journeyworker’s rate. In other words, if you are paid as an apprentice, but are not registered with DLS/DAS, or your program sponsor (likely your employer) has not registered its program with DLS/DAS, you should be paid the full rate for your work on any projects you have worked.

Keep in mind that some licensed trades also require apprenticeship registration with the Massachusetts Department of Professional Licensure (“DPL”).  However, this does not eliminate the DLS/DAS registration requirement.  It is an additional requirement.  Again, to be paid the apprentice rate, you must be registered with DLS/DAS.

Even if you and your employer have complied with the DLS/DAS registration requirements, you still could be paid the wrong rate in a couple of ways.  First, you could be paid at the wrong step.  Think of apprenticeship as a staircase to full journeyworker status.  As you advance, you climb each step and receive a greater percentage of the journeyworker’s prevailing wage rate along the way.  Each step has a corresponding percentage of the prevailing wage rate attached.  Depending on the job classification, these rates generally range from 40% to 95% of the journeyworker rate.  As you can guess, this can result in a significant difference in your hourly rate.  Your employer must pay you at the appropriate step.

Another way to get paid the incorrect rate is if your employer is “out of ratio.”  When DLS, issues its project rate sheets, it also lists a maximum ratio of apprentices to journeyworkers for each apprenticeship job classification.  This is to make sure that you get the instruction you need, and that employers do not staff jobs solely with apprentices to avoid paying the full journeyworker rate.  As an apprentice, you should not be the only worker on site.  If your employer does not comply with the ratio requirements, you may be entitled to the full journeyworker rate.

Unfortunately, employers have a strong incentive to pay less that the correct rate, and they often do. If you believe that you were paid at the incorrect step or should have received the full journeyworker rate, get in touch with us. We evaluate cases confidentially and at no cost.

 

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