Prevailing Wage Act (Illinois)

By Matthew A. Quick In light of the recent holding in Town of Normal v Hafner, when individual sole proprietors construct private residences on privately owned land with financing from private banks are not obligated to pay prevailing wage to laborers working on the project, because they are not considered a public body and private multifamily residences are not considered public works under the Prevailing Wage Act, to wit, Chapter 820 of the Illinois Compiled Statutes, Act 130. The court opined that the purpose of the Prevailing Wage Act is to ensure prevailing wage is paid on public projects, not to interfere with private economic development.