UC contractors and vendors must comply with fair wage plan

The UC Fair Wage/Fair Work Plan became effective Oct. 1, 2015. It is important to note that the plan applies not only to UC personnel, but also to contractors/vendors doing business with and providing services to UC. The UC Fair Wage/Fair Work Plan also provides measures to ensure contractor compliance including a dedicated telephone hotline (1-855-WAGES-UC) and webpage by which contract workers may report complaints directly to the Office of the President.

As the first university in the country to voluntarily set a minimum wage, compliance with this requirement will be scrutinized carefully. To ensure compliance, effective immediately it is imperative that UC ANR personnel do not allow contractors and/or vendors to perform work or provide services to UC ANR unless and until a properly authorized UC agreement is in place. (Common types of UC ANR work or services that are subject to the Fair Wage policy include repair services, farm labor contractor services, agricultural services, construction services, etc.)

UC policy has always required that an authorized UC purchase order (or other appropriate form of contract) be executed before work begins. With the implementation of the UC Fair Wage/Fair Work Plan, however, it is critical that UC ANR obtain services only from firms that will execute a contract guaranteeing payment of the plan's minimum wage, as described in UC's factsheet. Accordingly, the vendor's willingness to do this must be confirmed prior to the start of work.

Allowing work to proceed before an appropriately authorized UC purchase order is issued will be considered a breach of UC policy (an unauthorized purchase), and is very likely to trigger new/additional administrative requirements, cause delay and impede payment to the vendor.

The following UC ANR administrative staff members are available to assist you with this and related matters:

Additional information is available at

• UC president announces $15/Hour Minimum Wage
• UC Fair Wage/Fair Work Plan Implementation Guide
• UC Business and Finance Bulletin BUS-43, Materiel Management

Thank you very much for your attention to and compliance with this new University of California policy. 

Catherine Montano
Director, Administrative Policies & Business Contracts

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