New York Prevailing Wage Compliance

It's the minimum hourly wage, base rate plus fringes, that you have to pay workers on NY public works jobs. Rates depend on craft, county, and project type under Article 8. NYSDOL publishes the rates for most of the state, and the NYC Comptroller publishes separate (usually higher) rates for the five boroughs.

Article 8 is the NY state law that governs prevailing wage on public works. If you're on a state or municipal construction job, you pay the prevailing wage for the trade, file certified payroll transcripts at least every 30 days (Labor Law 220(3-a)), and keep the records for six years. It applies to any work performed for or on behalf of a public entity.

Note that NYSDOL's PW4 is a wage underpayment claim form, not a certified payroll form. What Article 8 requires is a transcript of the original payroll, and since January 1, 2026 NYSDOL takes it only through its Electronic Certified Payroll Submissions system: entered in the portal by hand, or uploaded as an XML file in the format of the department's NYDOL_CertPayroll.xsd schema. Some awarding agencies also ask for their own cover forms. They all want the same information: worker name, trade, hours worked, gross wages, deductions, supplements, and a signed statement. We produce the XML upload file; you upload it in your own portal account and certify it there.

Yeah, they're different. The NYC Comptroller sets its own schedules for work in the five boroughs under NYC Administrative Code 6-109 and Labor Law 220. They're almost always higher than upstate rates. If the project's in NYC, you use the Comptroller's schedule, not NYSDOL's.

NYSDOL reissues annually on July 1. NYC Comptroller schedules reissue on different dates depending on the craft. You pay whatever schedule is in effect when the work's actually performed. Enter that schedule's rates and pay is checked against them; we do not import NYSDOL or Comptroller schedules for you.

Not kidding around. Back wages, interest up to 16% per year, civil penalties up to 25% of the underpayment, 5-year debarment for willful violations, and criminal prosecution in the worst cases. NYSDOL audits contractors hard and publishes the debarment list.

NY calls them 'supplemental benefits': health, pension, vacation, training. You pay them either as cash added to wages or into bona fide benefit plans. The certified payroll has to itemize by benefit type; you enter each plan by type once and the payroll itemizes them.

Yes. We produce the XML file NYSDOL's Electronic Certified Payroll Submissions system accepts for bulk upload, validated against the department's published schema: one project and one payroll week per file, the worker's classification in the Bureau of Public Work's exact wording, supplements itemized by type, and the PRC number from your portal dashboard. Before you certify, the payroll page tells you what the state still needs and links to where you fix it. You upload the file in your own NYSDOL portal account and certify it there; we do not file anything for you. Pro plan and above.