Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 76.djvu/407

 76 STAT. ]

PUBLIC LAW 87-581-AUG. 13, 1962

amount of stich unpaid wages to be withheld for the use and benefit of the laborers and mechanics who were not compensated as required under the provisions of this Act. The Comptroller General of the United States is hereby authorized and directed to pay directly to such laborers and mechanics, from the sums withheld on account of underpayments of wages, the respective amounts administratively determined to be due, if the funds withheld are adequate, and, if not, an equitable proportion of such amounts. (b) If the accrued payments withheld under the terms of the contracts, as aforesaid, are insufficient to reimburse all the laborers and mechanics with respect to whom there has been a failure to pay the wages required pursuant to this Act, such laborers and mechanics shall, in the case of a department or agency of the Federal Government, have the rights of action and/or of intervention against the contractor and his sureties conferred by law upon persons furnishing labor or materials, and in such proceedings it shall be no defense that such laborers and mechanics accepted or agreed to accept less than the required rate of wages or voluntarily made refunds. (c) Any contractor or subcontractor aggrieved by the withholding of a sum as liquidated damages as provided in this Act shall have the right, within sixty days thereafter, to appeal to the head of the agency of the United States or of the territory for which the contract work is done or by which financial assistance for the work is provided, or to the Commissioners of the District of Columbia in the case of liquidated damages withheld for the use and benefit of said District. Such agency head or Commissioners, as the case may be, shall have authority to review the administrative determination of liquidated damages and to issue a final order affirming such determination; or, if it is found that the sum determined is incorrect or that the contractor or subcontractor violated the provisions of this Act inadvertently notwithstanding the exercise of due care on his part and that of his agents, recommendations may be made to the Secretary that an appropriate adjustment in liquidated damages be made, or that the contractor or subcontractor be relieved of liability for such liquidated damages. The Secretary shall review all pertinent facts in the matter and may conduct such investigations as he deems necessary, so as to affirm or reject the recommendation. The decision of the Secretary shall be final. In all such cases in which a contractor or subcontractor may be aggrieved by a final order for the withholding of liquidated damages as hereinbefore provided, such contractor or subcontractor may, within sixty days after such final order, file a claim in the Court of Claims: Provided, however, That final orders of the agency head, the Commissioners of the District of Columbia or the Secretary, as the case may be, shall be conclusive with respect to findings of fact if such findings are supported by substantial evidence. (d) Reorganization Plan Numbered 14 of 1950 (15 F.R. 3175; 64 Stat. 1267) shall be applicable with respect to the provisions of this Act, and s&ction 2 of the Act of June 13, 1934, as amended (48 Stat. 948, 54 Stat. 1236, 63 Stat. 108; 40 U.S.C. 276c), shall be applicable with respect to those contractors and subcontractors referred to therein who are engaged in the performance of contracts subject to the provisions of this Act. SEC. 105. The Secretary may provide such reasonable limitations and may make such rules and regulations allowing reasonable variations, tolerances, and exemptions to and from any or all provisions of this Act as he may find necessary and proper in the public interest to prevent injustice or undue liardship or to avoid serious impairment of the conduct of Government business. SEC. 106. Any contractor or subcontractor whose duty it shall be to employ, direct, or control any laborer or mechanic employed in the

359

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