Public work contracts can be a profitable area for contractors. However, compliance with the wage and benefit obligations can be a trap for the unwary in terms of compliance. Amy Klein, Vice President & General Counsel of Direct Retirement Solutions, will address prevailing wage obligations and how open-shop government contractors can leverage the fringe benefit obligations to bid more competitively, avoid unanticipated liabilities, and provide superior benefit programs. These areas include how prevailing wage obligation may be met by a combination of cash wages and creditable “bona fide” fringe benefits provided for a covered worker, how using bona fide fringe benefits can lower bid costs by reducing the contractor’s “labor burden” (e.g., FICA, workers’ compensation premiums, unemployment taxes, and liability insurance premiums) and using “funded” versus “unfunded” plans, among other things.