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The most common certified payroll reporting forms to use are the United States Department of Labor
Form WH-347 - Payroll Certification and Form WH-348 - Statement of Compliance. However, many states
require the use of their own specialized form, which have been derived from these standard forms.
Countless hours of research and communication with various State Agencies has enabled us to offer not only
the standard forms, but also specialized forms required by individual states. To verify the forms
required by your state, please check the Status-by-State or
the Demonstration pages.
 To download an easy to read version of the "why's and how's" of certified payroll reporting mandates,
click here.
The weekly payroll reports are called certified because each payroll report is
accompanied by a Statement of Compliance; which must be signed by the payroll administrator or
other company official and contains language certifying that the information is correct and true.
No Work Payrolls are required to be submitted whenever there is a temporary break in
your company's work on the project.
Numbering - payroll reports must be numbered consecutively, including the
"No Work Payrolls".
Payroll Retention - every contractor and subcontractor is required to keep a complete
set of their own Certified Payroll Reports and other basic records such as time cards for the
project for at least 3 years after the project is completed.
What information has to be included on the Certified Payroll Report?
The standard WH-347 mandates the inclusion of the following information (these mandates
became effective April 1, 2003 and will remain in effect until March 31, 2006).
Please be aware that some states will require additional information.
- Project and contractor/subcontractor information - contractor or sub-contractors
company name and address; the project number, project name, project location, and the payroll pay
period ending date.
- Employee Information - the name, address, and social security number of each employee.
- Withholding Exemptions - the number of Federal Withholding Exemptions claimed by each
employee.
- Employee Work Classification - each employee must be classified in accordance with the type
of work they perform on the jobsite. Consult the Prevailing Wage Determination that is included with
the contract specifications for classification and minimum wages. Employees performing work in
more than one type of classification must be shown in separate entries on the report.
- Hours Worked; Day and Date - report the number of hours worked each day for each employee,
designating the number of straight/regular time hours as well as the number of overtime hours as mandated
by the Contract Work Hours Standard Act. Overtime occurs when an employee works more than 8 hours each day
and 40 hours during a week.
- Total Hours - report the total hours worked by the employee on this job.
- Rate of Pay/Cash Fringes - this has two separate reporting requirements as follows:
- Contractors paying Fringe Benefits in Cash to employees - for each type of wage; Straight Time (ST)
or Over Time (OT) you must show the actual base rate of pay PLUS the Fringe Benefit rate per hour stated
in the Wage Decision or Wage Determination associated with the contract that are paid directly to the employee.
For example, per the wage decision an employee might have a work classification that has a base rate of pay
of $10.00 per hour with a fringe benefit rate of $5.00 per hour; it is required that you report
Straight Time earnings like this $10.00/$5.00 on the certified payroll report. For Over Time
earnings you are required to pay not less than the sum of the base rate, plus the half time premium of the
base rate, plus the benefit rate for straight time and should be reported like this on the report;
$15.00/$5.00.
- Contractors pay all required fringe benefits to a Union or bona-fide plan - if you pay all
required fringe benefits to approved plans, funds, or programs in amounts not less than stated in the wage
decision associated with the contract, you are required to only show the base rate of pay for Straight Time
and Over Time and should be shown as $10.00 and $15.00.
- Gross Amount Earned This Job/All Jobs - enter the gross amount earned for
this job. If part of the employees total weekly wage was earned on project other than the
project described on this payroll, you are required to report gross wages on this project
and then gross wages on all projects; thus $60.00/$120.00.
- Deductions - there are a total of 5 columns for reporting deductions; deductions classified as
"Other Withholding" require an explanation. All deductions must be in accordance with the
provisions of the Copeland Act Regulations: 29CFR, Part 3. If an employee worked on other jobs in addition
to this project, you must report deductions as actual total deductions from the total weekly
gross pay, and indicate that the deductions are based on gross pay. Total Deductions
from Gross Pay must be reported in the Total Deductions column.
- Net Wages Paid for Week - the employees Net Wages for the week must agree with what is
actually taken home. This is the total of Gross Wages All Projects minus Total Deductions.
According to the instruction sheet provided by the US Department of Labor, it is
estimated that it will take approximately 56 minutes to complete one certified payroll report with
8 employees listed - Certified Payroll Solution will shorten that to less than 10 minutes.
Who are employees and who must be included on the reports?
A Laborer or Mechanic is anyone who is performing construction work on the project, including: trade
journeyman (carpenters, plumbers, sheet metal workers, etc.); apprentices, trainees, watchmen, guards, and
traffic control personnel. Laborers and mechanics are the two groups of workers that must be paid
not less than Davis-Bacon Wage Rates.
Working foreman or supervisors that regularly spend more than 20% of their time performing
construction work are considered covered "laborers" and "mechanics" for labor standard purposes.
Apprentices and Trainees are the only workers who can be paid less than the wage rate in the
wage decision for their work classification. They must be registered in an approved
apprenticeship or training program. An approved program is one that is registered with the
US Department of Labor, Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training or with a State Apprenticeship Agency
that is recognized by the USDOL.
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