Durham County joined a short list of municipalities in July 2004 when it enacted a living wage by raising the minimum pay for workers to 7.5 percent above the poverty level.
But since its implementation, county officials have struggled to enforce the living wage-hourly pay high enough to support a basic standard of living.
A report from the county finance office released last week showed that over half of the government's contractors who fall under the wage policy failed to submit their payroll records. The same report also alleged that at least three of those contractors were violating the law by underpaying workers.
"The bottom line is that if they don't comply, their future relationship with us in terms of contracts would be at risk. There's a lot to lose for some of the contractors," County Manager Mike Ruffin said. "But I think there is a very constructive move to comply as they begin to understand what the issues of noncompliance were."
The three companies in question of violation in last week's report included Southern Coach Co., Finch Electrical Service and Custom Overhead Doors. Payroll filings showed that each organization paid at least one worker below the minimum.
"I know that Southern Coach has already corrected the noncompliance," Ruffin said.
The county's living wage is currently set at $10 per hour-revised in July from the original $9.74-and the City of Durham's minimum is currently $9.50 per hour.
"It has been fairly successful," Ruffin said. "We've had a few instances where we've had contractors who would not bid because of it, and we've had some who obviously submitted proposals and then withdrew once they got more information... but for the most part we've had no problem with it."
Earlier this year Duke University officials implemented their own raised minimum wage policy of $10 an hour.
"We received a very, very positive response," said John Burness, senior vice president for government relations and public affairs, referring to the new wage.
Burness said Duke does not regard its pay increase as an implementation of a living wage, but added that it is also important to look at "fringe benefits"-such as health care-when considering workers' "total compensation."
Duke has one of the best of such packages in the area, Burness said.
Although local governments have traditionally been the entities to enact living wages, in recent years more universities have been taking steps to do so as well. Georgetown University, Washington University in St. Louis and University of Tennessee at Knoxville have all implemented living wages.
The issue of a living wage has been a contentious issue in recent years, across both the state and the nation.
Although human rights activists have asserted that the federal minimum wage is not enough to support a basic standard of living, some economic specialists have suggested that a broad pay increase would alter the job market, putting people out of work.
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