Before school let out my shop teacher was going on about how the summer school renovation jobs pay "prevailing wage" and that's why everyone fights to get on them. I nodded. I have no idea what it means. Is it a union thing? Would I make more as a helper on one of those jobs? And why would a school pay more than a house? Explain it like I'm a vo-tech kid in Hamilton whose whole resume is one summer carrying wire, because that's what I am.
Mechanical contractor (HVAC + plumbing) · 24 years · Burlington County, NJ
Mentor✓ Accepted answer
Short version: on covered public jobs in NJ (schools, municipal buildings, a lot of publicly funded work), contractors have to pay at least the rates the state sets for each trade and county. Those rates are published by the state labor department.
It isn't only a union thing. Non-union shops like mine do prevailing-wage work and pay the rates. The paperwork is certified payroll: every week, every worker, every hour. That's part of why not every shop bids them.
HVAC contractor, owner · 25 years · Middlesex County, NJ
Mentor
To add the helper part:
- Apprentice rates on those jobs generally depend on being in a registered apprenticeship program
- If you're not in one, a shop may not be able to use you as an apprentice there at all
- Ask your teacher about it before you graduate
Check the details with the state, not with me.
OK that actually makes sense. So it's less "schools pay more" and more "the state says you can't pay less on public jobs." Asking my teacher about the registered apprenticeship part tomorrow and pretending I knew all along.