Reporting Davis-Bacon Act fraud and obtaining a whistleblower reward under the False Claims Act (FCA)

This article shows you how to get a reward for reporting government contractor fraud by reporting Davis-Bacon Act fraud. Below are examples of Davis-Bacon Act violations, followed by tips for how to get a whistleblower reward reporting Davis-Bacon Act fraud.

Examples of Davis-Bacon Act fraudulent schemes

The Davis-Bacon Act requires contractors on federal construction projects to pay the prevailing wage and fringe benefits for the classification of laborers and mechanics for the area in which the project is performed. The Davis-Bacon Act also covers subcontractors.

It is Davis-Bacon Act fraud and a violation of the False Claims Act for a contractor to misrepresent or lie about the actual wages paid to workers/employees to make it appear that the contractor is paying the prevailing wage. For instance, if the prevailing wage is $30 per hour for a certain classification of laborer or mechanic and the government contractor only pays $20 per hour but lies and reports or certifies that they paid the prevailing rate, it is a violation of the False Claims Act and a whistleblower reward is available for reporting such Davis-Bacon Act fraud.

Tips for how to report Davis-Bacon Act fraud

If you report Davis-Bacon Act fraud against the federal government by a contractor or subcontractor, you can get a significant monetary reward. But there are very specific rules and requirements you must follow when you report Davis-Bacon Act violations or fraud or you won’t be eligible for a whistleblower reward.

Below are the basics for how to apply for a reward and how to properly report Davis-Bacon Act fraud against the government.

First, you cannot simply tell Department of Labor or call a hotline to report Davis-Bacon Act violations or fraud. In other words, even if you report the Davis-Bacon Act fraud to the Department of Labor and the government uses your information to recover millions of dollars, you won’t be eligible simply for any reward by reporting the Davis-Bacon Act fraud. Instead, to get a reward for reporting Davis-Bacon Act fraud requires that you use an attorney to file a qui tam suit under the False Claims Act and allege in detail the Davis-Bacon Act fraudulent scheme being committed against the government. This may sound expensive, but lawyers handling whistleblower rewards for reporting Davis-Bacon Act fraud take cases on a contingency basis, which means they front the costs and receive a portion of any whistleblower reward.

Second, you must provide specific and detailed information about the Davis-Bacon Act fraud. The government turns down 75% of reward applications. Thus, it’s very important that you select an experienced attorney that knows how to present a Davis-Bacon Act fraud claim for a reward.

How much reward for reporting progress payment fraud?

The size of any whistleblower reward for reporting Davis-Bacon Act fraud or any other fraudulent scheme to cheat the government is determined by the size of the fraud. That’s because you receive a portion of the funds recovered by the government based on your allegations of fraud.

Assuming the Davis-Bacon Act violations were widespread and the defense or government contractor paid $5 million to settle the Davis-Bacon Act fraud allegations, a whistleblower would be entitled to a reward of between 15% and 25% of that amount, or between $1.5 million and $2.5 million. The larger the fraud case, the larger the reward. You will also need to pay your attorney a portion of the reward and taxes. That’s why The Hesch Firm LLC sets a minimum threshold of $5 million to take new whistleblower reward cases to help ensure the benefits outweigh the risk to whistleblowers for reporting Davis-Bacon Act fraud.

How to report Davis-Bacon Act fraud

Mr. Hesch is available to review your information and decide if you have the right kind of a Davis-Bacon Act fraud case that is eligible for a reward. The rest of this website provides more details how to report Davis-Bacon Act fraud and how to apply for a reward.

See the link on the bottom of the page below “Do I have a case” to have Mr. Hesch review your potential case for how to get a reward for reporting Davis-Bacon Act fraud against the government.

See the link on the bottom of the page below “Report Fraud” to learn more about how to get a reward for reporting Davis-Bacon Act fraud.