What Is Certified Payroll? Form WH-347, Overtime, and Penalties

Certified payroll is a signed weekly wage report that every contractor and subcontractor on a federally funded construction project worth more than $2,000 must submit to the contracting agency, showing that each laborer and mechanic was paid at least the prevailing wage rate set by the U.S. Department of Labor for that classification and location. The obligation comes from two statutes working together: the Davis-Bacon Act sets the wage floor,¹ and the Copeland Anti-Kickback Act requires the weekly statement of compliance that documents it.²

Who Has to File

The reporting duty runs down every tier of the contracting chain. A prime contractor files its own certified payroll and is responsible for making sure each subcontractor files too. Subcontractors at every level submit their own reports, which reach the contracting agency either directly or through the prime.³ If a sub falls behind, the agency can withhold payments to the prime until the missing reports arrive.

The Davis-Bacon and Related Acts framework reaches beyond direct federal contracts. It also covers most construction funded through federal grants or loans to state and local governments. Projects funded entirely with state or municipal money fall under state prevailing wage laws instead, which usually require different forms and follow different submission rules.

The Prevailing Wage Your Payroll Is Measured Against

The prevailing wage is not a single number. It is a combination of a basic hourly rate plus a fringe benefit rate, set for a specific worker classification in a specific geographic area, and published by DOL in a “wage determination” that is written into the contract before bidding opens.⁴ That determination is the benchmark reviewers will hold your report against.

Every worker on your payroll has to be listed under the classification matching the work they actually performed, not their job title and not the lower-rated classification you would prefer. If a laborer spends part of the week doing carpentry, those hours belong at the carpenter rate. Splitting time between a covered project and private work is fine, but the certified payroll only shows the hours and wages tied to the covered project. Combining the two is one of the fastest ways to draw a compliance review.

What the Weekly Report Has to Show

Certified payroll is granular. For every laborer and mechanic who worked on the project during the reporting week, the report must include the worker’s name, address, Social Security number, correct work classification, hourly pay rate, and daily and weekly hours worked, along with gross wages, all deductions, and the net amount actually paid.⁵

Every figure has to line up with your internal time sheets and payroll ledger. Estimating, rounding, or carrying numbers forward from prior weeks creates discrepancies that get flagged when a reviewer compares the report to the underlying records.

Fringe Benefits

Fringe benefits are where most certified payroll problems start. The wage determination lists the fringe rate separately from the basic hourly rate, and you can satisfy that fringe obligation three ways: contribute the full amount to approved benefit plans such as health insurance or pension funds, pay the full fringe amount to the worker as additional cash wages, or use a combination.⁴

If your plan contributions fall short of the fringe rate, the gap has to be paid to the worker in cash. You need records showing the cost and distribution of the plan contributions to prove you covered the obligation. Auditors look at this closely because the math shifts worker by worker, and the shortfall calculation is easy to miscalculate on a mixed crew.

Filling Out Form WH-347

The standard reporting document is DOL Form WH-347, “Payroll (For Contractor’s Optional Use).” The form itself is technically optional, but the information it collects is mandatory, and most contracting agencies require or strongly prefer WH-347 for consistency.³ The current version is on the DOL website. State-funded work may require a state-specific form instead.

The top of the form captures your business name, sequential payroll number, contract number, project name and location, and the week-ending date. The main body has one row per worker with columns for:

Classification, matching the wage determination exactly.
Basic hourly cash rate, kept separate from fringe benefits.
Daily hours worked, with regular and overtime hours separated.
Gross wages earned for the reporting period.
Deductions, including federal and state withholding, FICA, garnishments, and other items (Column 7).
Net pay actually delivered to the worker (Column 8).

The Statement of Compliance

Page two is the Statement of Compliance, a signed certification that the payroll data is accurate and complete and that every worker was paid at least the applicable prevailing wage. The signature has to come from an owner, officer, or authorized employee who supervises wage payments, and it must be either an original handwritten signature or a legally valid electronic signature.⁵

The Statement also asks you to indicate how you met the fringe obligation. Section 4(a) is for fringe benefits paid into approved plans, funds, or programs. Section 4(b) is for the full fringe amount paid directly to the worker in cash. Section 4(c) covers exceptions and explanations. Willful falsification of this certification can lead to civil or criminal prosecution, contract termination, and debarment.⁶

Overtime

The Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act (CWHSSA) applies alongside Davis-Bacon on most federal construction contracts. It requires at least one and a half times the basic rate for every hour worked beyond 40 in a workweek.⁷ That is why the report separates regular from overtime hours. Failure to pay the required overtime rate creates back-wage liability plus liquidated damages of $33 per affected worker for each calendar day the overtime violation occurred, an amount adjusted periodically for inflation.⁸

Apprentices

Apprentices in a registered apprenticeship program can be paid less than the full journeyworker rate, but only within limits. The apprentice-to-journeyworker ratio on the job site cannot exceed the ratio in the applicable registered program, and compliance is measured daily rather than weekly.⁹ Extra apprentices beyond the allowed ratio on a given day have to be paid the full prevailing wage for the classification of work they did. Only the apprentices who were already working before the ratio was exceeded keep the apprentice rate.

Apprenticeship programs generally do not travel across geographic areas. If you are working in a locality different from where your program is registered, you have to follow the ratios and rates of a program registered in the project’s locality. The certified payroll must list each apprentice separately, showing their program-approved pay rate as a percentage of the journeyworker rate.

When to Submit and How Long to Keep Records

Certified payrolls are due weekly, within seven days after the regular payment date for the payroll period covered.¹⁰ The report goes to a representative of the contracting agency at the job site, or by mail or other reliable delivery method if no representative is present. This runs for the full duration of covered work. If no work was performed during a week, most agencies still expect a statement saying so.

Many agencies now accept or require electronic submission through web-based compliance platforms, and DOL permits electronic filing and electronic signatures on the Statement of Compliance.³ Check with your contracting agency for the specific portal or method it requires.

Both the agency and the contractor have to keep records for at least three years after all work on the prime contract is completed.¹⁰ Time cards, payroll ledgers, and benefit plan documentation must support every figure on the WH-347. DOL can request those records at any time during the retention period, and any gap between the certified payroll and the backup documentation is treated as a compliance failure.¹¹

Penalties for Getting It Wrong

Consequences scale with severity. For late or incomplete reports, the contracting agency can withhold payments until the corrected reports are delivered.¹² That alone can strain cash flow on a project where subs and suppliers need to be paid on schedule.

Underpayment triggers back-wage liability for every affected worker: the difference between what they were paid and what the wage determination required, for every hour of covered work. CWHSSA overtime violations add liquidated damages on top. In serious cases, the agency can terminate the contract, with the contractor liable for any additional costs the government incurs to finish the job.¹²

The most severe penalty is debarment. A contractor found to have committed willful or aggravated violations can be banned from all federal contracts for three years.¹² Knowingly submitting false information on a certified payroll can also draw criminal prosecution under federal false-statement laws, with fines and up to five years of imprisonment.¹³

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 40 USC 3142 – Rate of Wages for Laborers and Mechanics
2
Acquisition.GOV. 48 CFR 22.403-2 – Copeland Act
3
U.S. Department of Labor. Instructions For Completing Davis-Bacon and Related Acts Weekly Certified Payroll Form WH-347
4
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 66E – The Davis-Bacon and Related Acts Compliance With Fringe Benefit Requirements
5
eCFR. 29 CFR 3.3 – Certified Payrolls
6
U.S. Department of Labor. Employment Law Guide – Prohibition Against Kickbacks in Federally Funded Construction
7
Acquisition.GOV. 48 CFR 52.222-4 – Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards
8
eCFR. 29 CFR 5.8 – Liquidated Damages Under the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act
9
U.S. Department of Labor. Davis-Bacon Compliance Principles
10
eCFR. 29 CFR 3.4 – Submission of Certified Payroll and the Preservation and Inspection of Weekly Payroll Records
11
Acquisition.GOV. 48 CFR 52.222-8 – Payrolls and Basic Records
12
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 66 – The Davis-Bacon and Related Acts
13
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1001 – Statements or Entries Generally