Mont. Code Ann. » TITLE 18. PUBLIC CONTRACTS · CHAPTER 2. CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS · Part 4. Special Conditions -- Standard Prevailing Rate of Wages
Montana Code Annotated

Mont. Code Ann. § 18-2-407 (2026)

Forfeiture For Failure To Pay Standard Prevailing Rate Of Wages

✓ laws through the 2025 session (checked Sept. 2026)
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section MT-LEGleg.mt.gov JustiaTitle on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar
  1. MCA Contents
  2. TITLE 18
  3. CHAPTER 2
  4. Part 4
  5. 18-2-407 Forfeiture for failure to pay standard prevailing rate of wages

TITLE 18. PUBLIC CONTRACTS

CHAPTER 2. CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS

Part 4. Special Conditions -- Standard Prevailing Rate of Wages

Forfeiture For Failure To Pay Standard Prevailing Rate Of Wages

18-2-407. Forfeiture for failure to pay standard prevailing rate of wages. (1) Except as provided in 18-2-403, a contractor, subcontractor, or employer who pays workers or employees at less than the standard prevailing rate of wages as established under the public works contract shall forfeit to the department a penalty at a rate of up to 20% of the delinquent wages plus fringe benefits, attorney fees, audit fees, and court costs. Money collected by the department under this section must be deposited in the general fund. A contractor, subcontractor, or employer shall also forfeit to the employee the amount of wages owed plus $25 a day for each day that the employee was underpaid.

(2) Whenever it appears to the contracting agency or to the commissioner that there is insufficient money due to the contractor or the employer under the terms of the contract to cover penalties, the commissioner may, within 90 days after the filing of notice of completion of the project and its acceptance by the contracting agency, maintain an action in district court to recover all penalties and forfeitures due. This part does not prevent the individual worker who has been underpaid or the commissioner on behalf of all the underpaid workers from maintaining an action for recovery of the wages due under the contract as provided in Title 39, chapter 3, part 2.

History: En. Sec. 1, Ch. 102, L. 1931; re-en. Sec. 3043.1, R.C.M. 1935; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 32, L. 1955; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 43, L. 1961; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 265, L. 1969; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 375, L. 1973; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 531, L. 1975; R.C.M. 1947, 41-701(3); amd. Sec. 5, Ch. 554, L. 1989; amd. Sec. 4, Ch. 609, L. 1993; amd. Sec. 4, Ch. 90, L. 1995; amd. Sec. 13, Ch. 389, L. 1999; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 467, L. 2003; amd. Sec. 14, Ch. 277, L. 2009.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 3 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1983–2023 · leading case: Thompkins v. Fuller, 667 P.2d 944 (Mont. 1983).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Thompkins v. Fuller, 667 P.2d 944 (Mont. 1983). · cites it 6× “Section 18-2-407, MCA. He contracted that the Commissioner of Labor may set the standard prevailing wage-rates.”
Com. v. Goodco Mech., Inc., 291 A.3d 378, 2023 PA Super 32 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2023). · cites it 2× “250; Montana, Mont. Code Ann. § 18-2-407 ; Nebraska, Neb.”
Cochran v. State, 2003 MT 318, 80 P.3d 423. · cites it 2× “¶5 The Workers filed a Motion for Summary Judgment seeking an order that: 1) the Hatchery project was a “public works contract” as defined by the Little Davis-Bacon Act; 2) the workers employed on the Hatchery project were entitled to “heavy” construction wages and were not paid…”
Mont. Code Ann. § 18-2-407(2): 1 case
Cochran v. State, 2003 MT 318, 80 P.3d 423. “¶5 The Workers filed a Motion for Summary Judgment seeking an order that: 1) the Hatchery project was a “public works contract” as defined by the Little Davis-Bacon Act; 2) the workers employed on the Hatchery project were entitled to “heavy” construction wages and were not paid…”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.