§ 4.163 Section 4(c) of the Act.

(a) Section 4(c) of the Act provides that no “contractor or subcontractor under a contract, which succeeds a contract subject to this Act and under which substantially the same services are furnished, shall pay any service employee under such contract less than the wages and fringe benefits, including accrued wages and fringe benefits, and any prospective increases in wages and fringe benefits provided for in a collective-bargaining agreement as a result of arm's-length negotiations, to which such service employees would have been entitled if they were employed under the predecessor contract: Provided, That in any of the foregoing circumstances such obligations shall not apply if the Secretary finds after a hearing in accordance with regulations adopted by the Secretary that such wages and fringe benefits are substantially at variance with those which prevail for services of a character similar in the locality.” Under this provision, the successor contractor's sole obligation is to insure that all service employees are paid no less than the wages and fringe benefits to which such employees would have been entitled if employed under the predecessor's collective bargaining agreement (i.e., irrespective of whether the successor's employees were or were not employed by the predecessor contractor). The obligation of the successor contractor is limited to the wage and fringe benefit requirements of the predecessor's collective bargaining agreement and does not extend to other items such as seniority, grievance procedures, work rules, overtime, etc.

(b) Section 4(c) is self-executing. Under section 4(c), a successor contractor in the same locality as the predecessor contractor is statutorily obligated to pay no less than the wage rates and fringe benefits which were contained in the predecessor contractor's collective bargaining agreement. This is a direct statutory obligation and requirement placed on the successor contractor by section 4(c) and is not contingent or dependent upon the issuance or incorporation in the contract of a wage determination based on the predecessor contractor's collective bargaining agreement. Pursuant to section 4(b) of the Act, a variation has been granted which limits the self-executing application of section 4(c) in the circumstances and under the conditions described in § 4.1b(b) of this part. It must be emphasized, however, that the variation in § 4.1b(b) is applicable only if the contracting officer has given both the incumbent (predecessor) contractor and the employees' collective bargaining representative notification at least 30 days in advance of any estimated procurement date.

(c) Variance hearings. The regulations and procedures for hearings pursuant to section 4(c) of the Act are contained in § 4.10 of subpart A and parts 6 and 8 of this title. If, as the result of such hearing, some or all of the wage rate and/or fringe benefit provisions of a predecessor contractor's collective bargaining agreement are found to be substantially at variance with the wage rates and/or fringe benefits prevailing in the locality, the Administrator will cause a new wage determination to be issued in accordance with the decision of the Administrative Law Judge or the Administrative Review Board, as appropriate. Since “it was the clear intent of Congress that any revised wage determinations resulting from a section 4(c) proceeding were to have validity with respect to the procurement involved” (53 Comp. Gen. 401, 402, 1973), the solicitation, or the contract if already awarded, must be amended to incorporate the newly issued wage determination. Such new wage determination shall be made applicable to the contract as of the date of the Administrative Law Judge's decision or, where the decision is reviewed by the Administrative Review Board, the date of that decision. The legislative history of the 1972 Amendments makes clear that the collectively bargained “wages and fringe benefits shall continue to be honored * * * unless and until the Secretary finds, after a hearing, that such wages and fringe benefits are substantially at variance with those prevailing in the locality for like services” (S. Rept. 92-1131, 92nd Cong., 2d Sess. 5). Thus, variance decisions do not have application retroactive to the commencement of the contract.