Certified payroll, line by line

Davis-Bacon labor standards apply to federal construction contracts over $2,000, and to federally assisted ones under a law that requires them (the Related Acts). On those contracts, every contractor and subcontractor submits a certified payroll for each week in which it performs work on the contract, and the prime contractor is responsible for every subcontractor's compliance.

Many states require certified payroll on state and local public works under their own laws, with their own thresholds and filing schedules: some weekly, some monthly, some only on request. Each state's rule, with its source, is on its own page.

One line per worker: name, an individual identifying number such as the last four digits of the Social Security number (never the full number, and no home address, on the weekly copy), the classification of the work, hours worked each day and in the week, the rate paid, including fringe contributions or cash paid in place of them, gross wages, deductions and net pay.

Form WH-347 is optional. The same information in any format meets the rule, which is why agencies accept their own portals and contractors' payroll reports.

A worker who does work in two classifications in a week can be paid each classification's rate for the hours in it, only if your payroll records show the time spent in each. Show the hours on separate lines, each at its rate. Without that record, expect to owe the higher rate for all the hours.

Page 2 of Form WH-347 holds the Statement of Compliance. Box 4 lists the registered apprenticeship programs, and box 5, with its Hourly Credit for Fringe Benefits table, claims credit for plan contributions. Cash paid in place of fringe goes in column 6C on page 1. Plan contributions are credited per hour across all hours the worker worked, public and private, unless an exception applies.

Each weekly payroll goes with a Statement of Compliance signed by the contractor or subcontractor, or the agent who pays or supervises the payment. It certifies that the payroll is correct and complete, that each worker was paid the full weekly wages earned with no rebates, and that no less than the required wages and fringe were paid. Falsifying it can lead to civil or criminal prosecution under 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 31 U.S.C. 3729.

Many contracting agencies also want a payroll marked "no work" for any week between your first and last week on the project when no one worked there, so the numbered sequence has no gaps. Ask the agency what it expects before the first week.

Common ways a certified payroll ends up owing back wages:

Payrolls and the basic records behind them (time records, classifications, fringe plan documents, apprenticeship registrations) are kept during the work and for at least three years after all the work on the prime contract is complete. State laws set their own periods.