You've been handed certified payroll. Start here.

On federal and federally assisted construction contracts over $2,000 that the Davis-Bacon Act or one of its "Related Acts" covers, every laborer and mechanic on the site must be paid at least the prevailing wage the Department of Labor has determined for that kind of work in that place. Certified payroll is how you prove it: each week you provide a copy of your payroll for those workers together with a signed statement that it is accurate and that everyone was paid at least the required wage and fringe benefits (29 CFR 3.3(b) and (c); 29 CFR 5.5(a) and (a)(3)(ii)).

The Department of Labor's form for this is the WH-347. Using the form itself is optional; providing the information weekly, with the signed Statement of Compliance, is not (Form WH-347; 29 CFR 5.5(a)(3)(ii)(B) and (D)).

Every contractor and subcontractor with laborers or mechanics on covered work files one, every week in which such work is performed. It goes to the federal agency if the agency is a party to your contract; if it is not (a city, a housing authority or a school district with federal funds, say), it goes to the applicant, sponsor or owner that keeps the records, for transmission to the agency. The prime contractor is responsible for the submission of all certified payrolls by all subcontractors, so a subcontractor normally hands its payroll to the prime (29 CFR 5.5(a)(3)(ii)(A); 29 CFR 3.4(a)).

An agency or prime may require you to use an electronic system, as long as it takes a legally valid electronic signature, keeps the payrolls accessible for three years after the project, and allows another way to submit when a contractor cannot use the system (29 CFR 5.5(a)(3)(ii)(A)).

Workers are paid at least weekly, and the certified payroll for a week is delivered within 7 days after the regular payment date of that payroll period (29 CFR 5.5(a)(1)(i); 29 CFR 3.4(a)). The payrolls are numbered from 1 and count up, one per week; the first week's is payroll number 1, and the last one on the project is marked as the final payroll (WH-347 instructions).

The regulation's words require a certified payroll "for each week in which any DBA- or Related Acts-covered work is performed". For a week with no covered work, many agencies and primes still ask for a short "no work" statement so the numbering stays whole. Ask yours (29 CFR 5.5(a)(3)(ii)(A)).

1. 1

   Get the wage determination number from your contract

   It is in the contract documents, and the Contracting Officer or your prime can tell you which one applies. Every rate you pay and every classification you report comes from it. Write down its number and revision number: the form asks for both.

2. 2

   Give each worker the classification for the work they actually do

   Use the classification names as the determination spells them. A worker who does two kinds of work in a week is reported on two rows, and if the determination has no classification for someone's work, ask the Contracting Officer right away rather than picking the nearest one.

3. 3

   Record hours by day, and keep straight time and overtime apart

   The form wants hours for each day of the workweek, straight time and overtime on separate rows. Overtime is hours over 40 in the week on contracts covered by the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act, and the FLSA's 40-hour rule can apply where that Act does not.

4. 4

   Pay at least the determination's rate, counting fringe

   The determination lists a basic hourly rate and a fringe amount. You can meet the fringe by paying into bona fide plans, by paying it as cash on the check, or both, and the form has a column for each. Whatever the mix, the worker's hourly wage plus fringe must reach the determination's total.

5. 5

   Fill in the WH-347, or your own form with the same information

   Page 1 is the week's payroll, page 2 is the Statement of Compliance. Our walkthrough shows every field with the DOL's instruction beside it.

6. 6

   Have the right person sign

   The person who paid or supervised the payment of the workers signs the Statement of Compliance. A legally valid electronic signature is fine; a scanned or photocopied signature is not.

7. 7

   Deliver it within 7 days after the regular payment date

   To the contracting agency if it is a party to your contract, or to whoever holds the records for it (the applicant, sponsor or owner) for transmission. A subcontractor normally hands it to the prime, who is responsible for every subcontractor's payrolls.

8. 8

   Keep your copies for three years after all the work on the prime contract is completed

   The certified payrolls and the regular payroll records behind them, available for inspection. Full Social Security numbers, addresses, telephone numbers and emails stay in your records, never on the payroll you submit.

Steps 3 and 4 rest on DOL's overtime page and 29 CFR 5.5(a)(1); step 7 on 29 CFR 3.4(a) and 29 CFR 5.5(a)(3)(ii)(A); step 8 on 29 CFR 5.5(a)(3)(i)(A), (ii)(B) and (ii)(G) and 29 CFR 3.4(b).

The Statement of Compliance is a certification by the person who paid or supervised the payment of the workers: that the payroll is correct and complete, that everyone was paid the full week's wages with no deductions other than permissible ones, and that everyone received at least the determination's rate and fringe for the work they actually did (29 CFR 5.5(a)(3)(ii)(C)). It need not be notarized. In the form's own words, willful falsification may subject the contractor or subcontractor to civil or criminal prosecution under 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 31 U.S.C. 3729, and to debarment (Form WH-347, page 2). So the person signing should be the person who knows the numbers.

Questions people ask in week one