The first decision impacts the change made to the prevailing wage law in December 2025. In December 2025, NY State amended Article 8 of the Labor Law to require the payment of prevailing wages for off-site custom fabrication. (This change was reported in the May 2026 Edition of Compliance Corner.) Scheduled to take effect on June 18, 2026, the preliminary injunction grants a pause on the enforcement of this law pending the resolution of the litigation. The lawsuit was brought by coalition of contractors and business groups challenging both the constitutionality and logistics of the proposed change. For now, the current law remains in effect and we will be monitoring the litigation for future developments that might impact bids and supply-chain practices.
The second decision made June 23, 2026 in Walton v. Comfort Systems USA ruled that employers must pay prevailing wages on public works projects even if the written contracts are silent or explicitly disclaim the requirement. In addition, employers cannot attempt to shorten the statute of limitations for a worker to sue for unpaid wages. At issue in the case were the contracts between the employers and various public agencies which either disclaimed the applicability of the prevailing wage law, were silent on the issue or referenced prevailing wage rates. The court based its decision upon the statutory law and the NY State constitution.
“Article I, § 17 of the New York Constitution, first adopted in 1905, establishes that the ‘[l]abor of human beings is not a commodity nor an article of commerce and shall never be so considered or construed.’ In furtherance of that policy, section 17 provides that ‘[n]o laborer, worker[,] or mechanic, in the employ of a contractor or sub-contractor engaged in the performance of any public work, shall be permitted to work more than eight hours in any day or more than five days in any week, except in cases of extraordinary emergency; nor shall [they] be paid less than the rate of wages prevailing in the same trade or occupation in the locality within the state where such public work is to be situated, erected[,] or used’ (NY Const, art I, § 17).”
As a result, employers should note the obligation to pay prevailing wages even in the absence of mention on contracts.