These statutes do not apply to the private sector except when it is engaged in contract work for the federal government. The first of these statutes, the Davis-Bacon Act (1931), set certain wage and related standards for federal contract construction work. In 1936, Congress added the Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act, setting basic labor standards in the production of goods under contract for the federal government. The third of these statutes, the McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act (1965), mandates minimum labor standards where services are provided, under contract, to the federal government. This report sketches the history of these statutes: what they provide, how they are similar, and how they differ. And, it notes certain areas of controversy that have developed with respect to the several enactments. Introduction

Early in the 19 th century, the federal government began development of a special body of labor standards protections applicable to its own direct workforce. In part, the federal construction program was intended to spur the economy of depressed areas by providing jobs for local workers and contracts for their employers. 99-145 ), Congress amended both Walsh-Healey and the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act (which supplements the Davis-Bacon Act) by eliminating the 8-hour daily pre-overtime pay requirements as they applied to federal contract work. Among these were:
... that not less than a specified minimum wage, "determined by the Secretary" to be "in accordance with prevailing rates" for comparable work "in the locality," be paid to workers employed under the said contract—but in no case less than the minimum wage provided for in the FLSA, that workers under the contract be provided the fringe benefits (or the cash equivalent thereof) found by the Secretary to be prevailing for such workers engaged in comparable work in the locality; that the workplace be safe and sanitary; and that the Secretary was permitted to adjust the terms of the statute as he might deem proper "in the public interest or to avoid serious impairment of the conduct of Government business." The original McNamara-O'Hara Act (P.L. Now freer to deal directly with labor standards in the private sector, Congress was able to move beyond both Davis-Bacon and Walsh-Healey in crafting wage/hour legislation. The provisions of the various statutes have been modified through the years by acts of Congress. Prevailing wage rates, however, have been quite a different matter. There is the body of laws enacted to protect persons engaged in federal contract work: Davis-Bacon, Walsh-Healey and McNamara-O'Hara. Separate from the federal contract labor standards statutes (but applicable to the same bodies of workers), there is the FLSA setting minimum wages, overtime pay rates, restraining child labor and industrial homework, etc. Concluding Comment

Each of these protective legal structures—the federal contract labor standards statutes, the FLSA, and the state and local protective legislation—was enacted to protect workers and to assist, in some measure, in stabilizing industry and the workplace.
In the late 1920s, following action taken in a number of states in dealing with state contracts, the federal government began development of a body of labor standards protections for workers employed by private contractors in federal contract work. The first of these statutes, the Davis-Bacon Act (1931), set basic labor standards (primarily, prevailing wage rates) for workers engaged in construction work, under contract, for the federal government. Two other major contract labor standards statutes followed: the Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act (1936) and the McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act (1965)—respectively dealing with labor standards for workers engaged in contracts for production of goods and the provision of services.
These statutes, amended from time to time and supplemented by other enactments, deal only with federal contract work. They do not directly impact work performed for private sector entities. Clearly, however, there are economic implications from these primary federally contracting statutes for private sector work. In part, the thrust of the statutes was to establish the federal government as a model employer to be emulated by the private sector. More directly, they were intended to provide economic protections to the targeted groups of workers and to assist, in some measure, in stabilizing the industries directly involved.
Both Davis-Bacon and Walsh-Healey were enacted prior to the more general Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA, 1938) which has come to provide a structure of minimum wages, overtime pay requirements, restraints upon child labor and industrial homework, among other things, both for public and private workers. Indeed, the McNamara-O'Hara Act was shaped and, finally, adopted while FLSA amendments (those of 1961 and 1966) were being developed to bring wage/hour protections to service workers.
Through the years, these statutes have been the focus of numerous hearings and an extensive literature. Their provisions have been added to various federal program statutes, usually by reference. And, they have sparked substantial debate, pro and con.
This report presents a brief historical introduction to the three federal contract labor standards statutes—Davis-Bacon, Walsh-Healey, and McNamara-O'Hara—and suggests how the several enactments (with the FLSA) are similar and different. It will be updated from time to time as conditions warrant.