192
Opinion of the Court
(West Supp. 2001).1 The awarding body was required to include a clause in the contract so stipulating. Ibid.
The Labor Code provides that "[b]efore making payments to the contractor of money due under a contract for public work, the awarding body shall withhold and retain there-from all wages and penalties which have been forfeited pursuant to any stipulation in a contract for public work, and the terms of this chapter." § 1727. If money is withheld from a contractor because of a subcontractor's failure to comply with the Code's provisions, "[i]t shall be lawful for [the] contractor to withhold from [the] subcontractor under him sufficient sums to cover any penalties withheld." § 1729 (West 1989).2
The Labor Code permits the contractor, or his assignee, to bring suit against the awarding body "on the contract for alleged breach thereof in not making . . . payment" to recover the wages or penalties withheld. §§ 1731, 1732 (West Supp. 2001). The suit must be brought within 90 days of completion of the contract and acceptance of the job. § 1730. Such a suit "is the exclusive remedy of the contrac-1 The Code also imposes restrictions on recordkeeping and working hours, and at the time relevant here, the contractor was similarly penalized if the contractor or subcontractor failed to comply with them. Cal. Lab. Code Ann. §§ 1776(a), (b), (g) (West Supp. 2001), 1813 (West 1989). The awarding body was required to include a clause in the contract so stipulating. §§ 1776(h), 1813.
Sections 1775, 1776, and 1813 were subsequently amended to provide that both contractors and subcontractors may be penalized for failure to comply with the Labor Code. §§ 1775(a), 1776(g), 1813 (West Supp. 2001). Amendments to § 1775 also state that either the contractor or the sub-contractor may pay workers the difference between the prevailing wage and wages paid. § 1775(a).
2 Amendments to the Labor Code effective July 1, 2001, impose additional requirements on contractors. See § 1727(b) (West Supp. 2001) (contractor shall withhold money from subcontractor at request of Labor Commissioner in certain circumstances); § 1775(b)(3) (contractor shall take corrective action to halt subcontractor's failure to pay prevailing wages if aware of the failure or be subject to penalties).
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