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Payroll

Certified payroll reporting in California

Every public works contractor and subcontractor must register with the DIR and file its own weekly certified payroll.

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Registration and the thresholds

California Labor Code §1771.1 · Department of Industrial Relations

Contractors and subcontractors must register with the DIR before bidding on or performing public works, and must submit certified payroll records through the DIR's eCPR system.

Registration thresholds: projects over $25,000 for construction and over $15,000 for maintenance.

Each contractor and each subcontractor files its own certified payroll records. A prime contractor cannot file on behalf of its subs, and a sub that assumes the prime is handling it is not compliant.

What a certified payroll record contains

Form A-1-131 is the state form; many awarding bodies accept the federal WH-347 equivalent.

  • Every worker on the project, by name and identifier
  • Work classification, which determines the applicable prevailing wage rate
  • Hours worked each day, and total hours for the week
  • The rate paid, and whether it meets the prevailing wage determination for that classification
  • Overtime, computed to the prevailing wage rules rather than ordinary overtime rules
  • Deductions, and fringe benefit contributions or payments in lieu
  • A signed statement of compliance
  • Filed weekly, for every week in which work was performed

Where contractors actually get caught

Misclassification of work. Paying a labourer's rate for work that falls under a higher-rated classification is the most frequent and most expensive finding.

Fringe benefit calculation. The prevailing wage is a total package. Contributions to bona fide benefit plans can offset it, but the arithmetic has to be right and documented.

Apprentice ratios. Public works projects carry apprenticeship requirements, and apprentice rates only apply to properly registered apprentices in an approved programme.

Penalties accrue per worker per day, so a classification error that runs for a month across a crew becomes a large number quickly.

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Common questions

Not answered here? Ask us directly: we would rather explain it than have you guess.

We are a subcontractor. Does the prime handle this for us?

No. Every contractor and subcontractor registers separately with the DIR and files its own certified payroll records. The prime is responsible for ensuring its subs comply and will chase you for them, but the filing obligation is yours and so is the penalty exposure. This is the most common misunderstanding on public works jobs.

What is prevailing wage, and how do we find the right rate?

A minimum total compensation package, base rate plus fringe benefits, set by the DIR for each work classification in each geographic area. The determination in force is the one applicable when the project was bid or awarded, which means an older project can run on older rates. The DIR publishes determinations, and using the wrong one is a finding even where you paid generously.

What happens if we file late or not at all?

Penalties accrue per worker per calendar day of non-compliance, and the awarding body can withhold contract payments until records are provided. Repeated failures can lead to debarment from public works, which is a business-ending outcome for a contractor who depends on that work.

Does this apply to a small maintenance contract?

Registration is required for maintenance work over $15,000: a lower threshold than the $25,000 that applies to construction. Small recurring maintenance contracts are exactly where this gets overlooked, because they do not feel like public works projects.

Can you handle the weekly filings for us?

Yes. We set up the classification structure and the payroll process, then prepare and file the weekly records through eCPR. The more valuable half is usually the set-up: getting classifications, fringe calculations and apprentice ratios right at the start prevents the findings that come from repeating a small error fifty times.

How do we start?

Book a scoping call using the form on this page, or call us. We will ask what you need, who is asking you for it, and what condition your records are in, then tell you what the engagement involves and what it will cost before anything begins.

Book a scoping call

Twenty minutes, no charge. Tell us what you need and we will tell you what it involves, what it will take, and whether we are the right fit for it.

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The California compliance calendar

Every filing a Los Angeles business, nonprofit or association owes in a year, in date order, with the statute beside it. One page, so it can go on a wall.

  • Federal, California and Los Angeles County dates in a single sequence
  • Entity by entity, so you only read your own rows
  • The citation for each date, so you can check it yourself
  • Reviewed and dated, and reissued when a date moves

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