Per the Davis-Bacon Act, contractors and subcontractors on federal jobs must pay workers at least the local prevailing wage rate. If payments are made as required, there are consequences. Certified payroll comes in to determine who is following the rules and who is not. For a payroll report to be certified, it must include certain information and a Statement of Compliance. The certified payroll report is submitted weekly to whatever government agency is tracking the public project.
The WH-347 form will fulfill all certified payroll requirements, and is the most commonly used form, but it is optional -- you can use another form. The Department of Labor makes it easy to fill out with these Instructions For Completing WH-347.
Here is a list of what the certified payroll must include:
- The name of every employee
- The type of work they performed on the project
- The employees’ wages
- Their benefits
- Hours worked
- Gross Wages
- Amounts withheld
The payroll becomes certified when the signed Statement of Compliance is attached. This document is simply a statement that the person submitting this certified payroll has complied with all necessary rules. It states that all of the forms are correct and that no employee is paid less than the prevailing wage for the work they performed on the project. This post here is likely to be very helpful to you if you need additional information on Certified Payroll.