The U.S. Dept. of Labor has issued its final rule aimed at protecting the personal privacy of laborers and mechanics employed on federal construction contracts under the Davis-Bacon Act and the Copeland Anti-Kickback Act.

The rules were originally proposed in October, and sought to eliminate the reporting of workers’ names and social security numbers on the weekly payroll reports required to be submitted by the federal contractor. DOL received a majority of comments raising concerns that the proposed changes could result in difficulties in enforcing the applicable prevailing wage laws because weekly submissions of certified payrolls containing social security numbers and addresses for individual workers are useful to government investigators and auditors in ensuring compliance. The AFL-CIO suggested that the changes to the rules could “embolden unscrupulous contractors and subcontractors to disregard their obligations”; and that it did not believe the reasons offered by the DOL “individually or collectively” supported the proposed changes.

The DOL says that it has determined that in its enforcement experience, the complete social security number and home addresses for workers are not required, and that this disclosure “creates an exposure to identity theft and the invasion of privacy for workers.” However, in recognition of the concern that totally eliminating access to social security numbers could be a hardship for those monitoring compliance in cases where there are multiple employees with the same name, the DOL says it will continue to require an employee identifying number on certified payrolls, “which in virtually all cases, should be the last four digits of the workers’ social security number.”

“In addition, contractors and subcontractors will be required to maintain and provide data to investigators demonstrating the appropriate payment of prevailing wages, including complete social security numbers and current home addresses for laborers and mechanics employed on covered contracts” as is currently required, says DOL.