Certified payroll guide
Common reasons a certified payroll is rejected
The clerical and format problems that send a weekly certified payroll back, and which of them a preflight can catch.
Most rejected certified payrolls are not rejected because the crew was underpaid. They are rejected because something on the form is missing, inconsistent or in the wrong form. Here are the recurring ones, and how our preflight treats each.
Problems a preflight catches
- A full Social Security number. Prohibited on the transmittal by 29 CFR 5.5(a)(3)(ii)(B); the preflight refuses it and never stores it.
- A missing or unconfirmed statement of compliance. The preflight requires each declaration before it runs.
- A missing identifier or classification. Every line must have a short identifying number and a work classification.
- Non-numeric or negative rates and hours. The preflight checks each figure.
- Identifiers that are more than four digits. The transmittal needs the last four, not the full number.
Problems only you can catch
A preflight cannot tell whether the classification matches the work actually performed, whether the wage rate is the one in the applicable wage determination, or whether the hours reflect the real week. Those are the contractor's responsibility and the contracting officer's to question.
The habit that prevents most of this
Check the week before it is due, not the day after. Our preflight runs in a minute and gives you the corrected lines and a copy by email.
Sources: U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division — WH-347 certified payroll form and instructions; 29 CFR 5.5 (contract provisions and related matters). This guide is general information, not legal advice, and not a determination by any agency. Owned and operated by GCExperts LLC.