Ohio Administrative Code
Title 4101:9 - Wage and Hour
Chapter 4101:9-4 - Prevailing Wage Regulations
Section 4101:9-4-02 - Definitions

(A) "Apprentice" means any employee who is enrolled or indentured per trade occupation as a member of a bona fide apprenticeship program, or a person in the first ninety days of probationary employment as an apprentice in such an apprenticeship program who has been certified by the Ohio apprenticeship council or registered with the Ohio apprenticeship council through those states with which Ohio holds reciprocal apprenticeship agreements to be eligible for probationary employment as an apprentice.

(B) "Basic hourly rate of pay" means that portion of the prevailing wage, excluding fringe benefits, paid directly to the employee before deductions.

(C) "Bona fide apprenticeship program" means a comprehensive training program registered with the Ohio apprenticeship council or certified by those with which Ohio holds reciprocal apprenticeship agreements.

(D) "Business association" means a business in any form including, but not limited to, a sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company, or corporation.

(E) "Classification" means the level of experience within an occupation, trade or craft.

(F) "Common labor" means the classification for unskilled employees.

(G) "Construction" means:

(H) "Contractor" means any business association that is involved in the actual construction of a public improvement. Contractor may include an owner, developer, recipients of publicly issued funds, and any person to the extent he actively participates in whole or in part in the actual construction of a public improvement by himself, through the use of employees, or by awarding and managing subcontracts to subcontractors as defined in paragraph (HH) of this rule. Contractor may also include any business association that administers, manages, conducts, and oversees actual construction of a public improvement by directing contractors and subcontractors on a specific project.

(I) "Commerce" means the Ohio department of commerce.

(J) "Director" means the director of the Ohio department of commerce , or the director's designee.

(K) "Employee" means any person in the employment of an employer who performs labor or work of the type performed by a laborer, workman, or mechanic in the construction, prosecution, completion or repair of a public improvement and includes owners, partners, supervisors, and working foremen who devote more than twenty per cent of their time during a work week to such labor or work for the time so spent. Employee does not include an individual who is a sole proprietor. Employee also does not include full-time employees of a public authority who have completed their probationary periods in the classified civil service of the public authority, except such persons are employees if performing work outside the classification specifications of the civil service position for which the probationary period has been served. Employee does not include any person in a program administered by a public authority approved at the discretion of the director in writing prior to work on any project or program, including, but not limited to, local workfare or community action programs.

(L) "Employer" means any public authority, contractor, or subcontractor.

(M) "Enforceable commitment" means a legally binding obligation of an employer.

(N) "Fringe benefits" means:

(O) "Fringe benefits credit" means payment made by an employer on behalf of an employee for fringe benefits. The amount of a contribution made by the employee to a fringe benefit, as described in rule 4101:9-4-07 of the Administrative Code, shall not constitute a fringe benefits credit.

(P) "Good faith" in the context of section 4115.10 of the Revised Code means:

(Q) "Institution" means any society or corporation of a for-profit, not-for-profit, public or private character established or organized for any charitable, educational or other beneficial purpose.

(R) "Interested party," with respect to a particular contract for construction or renovation of a public improvement, means:

(S) "Laborer, workman, or mechanic" means a person who performs manual labor, or labor of a particular occupation, trade or craft, or who uses tools of a particular occupation, trade or craft, or who otherwise performs physical work in such occupation, trade or craft which has been approved in writing by the director through issuance of prevailing wage rate schedules for such occupations, trades or crafts. Laborer, workman, or mechanic, does not include a person that performs activities that do not involve actual construction on the project, such as:

(T) "Legal day's work" means that portion of any twenty-four-hour time period during which an employee may work consistent with all applicable state or federal laws.

(U) "Locality" means the county in Ohio wherein the physical work upon any public improvement is being performed.

(V) "Materialman" means any supplier or furnisher of materials to be used in the construction of any public improvement.

(W) "Nonpublic user beneficiary" means any nongovernmental person who is the recipient of funds generated by the issuance of public obligations for such person's construction, use, occupancy, or enjoyment of a public improvement.

(X) "Occupation," "trade" or "craft" means the functional nature of work performed by an individual. The director may use the U.S. department of labor's "Dictionary of Occupational Titles" as a guide in determining an occupation, trade or craft.

(Y) "Person" means any individual, institution, business association, or governmental agency.

(Z) "Prevailing wage" means the sum of the following:

(AA) "Prevailing wage rate schedule" means the determination of the department of the prevailing rates of wages to be paid to employees in applicable occupations and the ratios of helpers, apprentices, trainees, serving laborers, and assistants to skilled workers; it includes any subsequent modifications, corrections, escalations or reductions to any wage rates or ratios.

(BB) "Public authority" means any officer, board, or commission of the state, or any political subdivision of the state, authorized to enter into a contract for the construction of a public improvement or to construct the same by the direct employment of labor, or any institution supported in whole or in part by public funds. Sections 4115.03 to 4115.16 of the Revised Code and division level 4101:9 rules of the Administrative Code apply to expenditures of such institutions made in whole or in part from public funds.

(CC) "Public improvement," subject to the exceptions set forth in division (B) of section 4115.04 of the Revised Code, means:

(DD) "Rate of contribution" means the hourly credit of the amount irrevocably made by an employer to a fund, plan or program pursuant to division (E)(2) of section 4115.03 of the Revised Code.

(EE) "Rate of costs" means the hourly credit of the amount reasonably anticipated to be paid by an employer in providing fringe benefits to employees pursuant to an enforceable commitment to carry out a financially responsible plan or program pursuant to division (E)(3) of section 4115.03 of the Revised Code.

(FF) "State" means the state of Ohio or any of its instrumentalities or political subdivisions, and, unless exempted or excepted by the Revised Code, the departments, agencies, boards, or commissions thereof.

(GG) "Structures and works" means, to the extent not specifically stated in the definition of public improvement, all construction activity, including, but not limited to, improvements of all types, such as bridges, dams, plants, highways, parkways, streets, streetscapes, subways, tunnels, mains, power lines, pumping stations, railways, airports, terminals, docks, piers, wharves, ways, lighthouses, buoys, jetties, breakwaters, levees, and canals.

(HH) "Subcontractor" means any business association hired by a contractor to perform construction on a public improvement or any business association hired by such subcontractor, or any subcontractor whose subcontract derives from the chain of contracts from the original subcontractor.

(II) "Supported in whole or in part by public funds" means any payment or partial payment directly or indirectly from funds provided by loans, grants, taxes, or any other type of payment from public funds of the federal government or of the state as defined in division 4101:9 of the Administrative Code.

(JJ) "Sufficient evidence" shall, for the purpose of section 4115.16 of the Revised Code, mean that each element of the complaint shall be supported by prima facie evidence.

(KK) "Third person" means a person responsible for safeguarding contributions to a fund, plan, or program pursuant to division (E)(2) of section 4115.03 of the Revised Code or fringe benefits provided pursuant to division (E)(3) of section 4115.03 of the Revised Code, or both. A third person must act in a fiduciary capacity and must assume the usual fiduciary responsibilities imposed upon trustees by applicable state or federal law.

(LL) "Trainee" is one who is employed pursuant to and individually registered in a program which has received prior approval by the employment and training administration (ETA), U.S. department of labor. Each occupation in which trainees are to be trained must be one commonly recognized throughout the construction industry.

(MM) "Trustee" means a person responsible for safeguarding contributions to a fund, plan, or program pursuant to division (E)(2) of section 4115.03 of the Revised Code or fringe benefits provided pursuant to division (E)(3) of section 4115.03 of the Revised Code, or both. A trustee must act in a fiduciary capacity and must assume the usual fiduciary responsibilities imposed upon trustees by applicable state or federal law.

The terms used in these rules are to be construed according to the purposes of the prevailing wage law, general principles of Ohio law, custom and usage in the construction industry, the context of their usage, and the use of similar words therein.