FAR 22.403-3—Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards.
Plain-English Summary
FAR 22.403-3 explains the core overtime requirement under the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards statute for covered federal contracts. It tells contracting officers and contractors that certain contracts must include the required labor standards clause at FAR 52.222-4, and that the clause protects laborers and mechanics working on the contract by limiting the standard workweek to 40 hours unless they are paid overtime at not less than 1.5 times the basic rate of pay. This section ties together three key subjects: which contracts are covered by the statute, what clause must be inserted, and what pay rule applies when covered workers exceed 40 hours in a workweek. In practice, it matters because it creates a mandatory wage-and-hour obligation on covered federal work and gives contracting personnel a clear trigger for clause insertion and compliance oversight. For contractors, it affects labor planning, payroll systems, subcontract administration, and cost estimating. For agencies, it is a compliance control that helps ensure the contract includes the statutory overtime protections required by law.
Key Rules
Covered contracts need the clause
Certain contracts identified under FAR 22.305 must include the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards clause at FAR 52.222-4. The requirement is not optional when the statute applies.
Forty-hour weekly limit
A laborer or mechanic performing any part of the contract work may not be required or permitted to work more than 40 hours in a workweek unless the overtime pay rule is met. The rule applies to covered work, not just to a particular job title.
Overtime must be time and a half
Hours worked over 40 in the workweek must be paid at not less than 1 1/2 times the basic rate of pay. The basic rate is the wage base used to calculate the overtime premium under the statute.
Applies to laborers and mechanics
The protection is directed at laborers and mechanics doing any part of the work contemplated by the contract. Contractors must identify which workers fall within those categories when administering the clause.
Clause implements the statute
The required clause at FAR 52.222-4 is the contractual mechanism that carries the statutory overtime requirement into the contract. If the clause is required, it must be included and enforced as part of contract administration.
Responsibilities
Contracting Officer
Determine whether the contract is one of the covered contracts referenced in FAR 22.305 and ensure the required clause at FAR 52.222-4 is included when applicable. The contracting officer also has a responsibility to administer the contract consistently with the overtime requirement.
Contractor
Comply with the clause by limiting covered laborers and mechanics to 40 hours per workweek unless overtime is paid at not less than 1.5 times the basic rate of pay. The contractor must also manage payroll, scheduling, and subcontract performance so the requirement is met.
Subcontractor
Follow the same overtime requirement for covered work performed under the subcontract when the clause flows down or otherwise applies. Subcontractors must pay the required overtime and keep accurate labor records.
Agency
Ensure acquisition policies and contract administration practices support inclusion and enforcement of the required labor standards clause on covered contracts. The agency must also support oversight of compliance where the statute applies.
Laborer or Mechanic
Perform work in accordance with the contract’s labor standards framework and report concerns if hours worked or pay practices appear inconsistent with the required overtime protections.
Practical Implications
Contractors need to build overtime costs into pricing and staffing plans for covered work; failing to do so can create margin loss or payroll compliance problems.
The biggest day-to-day risk is misclassifying workers or overlooking hours that count toward the 40-hour workweek, especially when employees split time across tasks or contracts.
Contracting officers should verify the clause is present whenever the contract is covered under FAR 22.305; omission can create compliance and enforcement issues later.
Payroll systems must track the basic rate of pay and calculate overtime correctly at 1.5 times that rate for hours over 40 in the workweek.
Subcontract flowdown and recordkeeping are common trouble spots, because prime contractors remain exposed if lower-tier performance does not comply with the statute and clause requirements.
Official Regulatory Text
40 U.S.C.chpater 37, Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards, requires that certain contracts (see 22.305 ) contain a clause (see 52.222-4 ) specifying that no laborer or mechanic doing any part of the work contemplated by the contract shall be required or permitted to work more than 40 hours in any workweek unless paid for all additional hours at not less than 1 1/2 times the basic rate of pay (see 22.301 ).