Certified payroll guide
Overtime and hours on the certified payroll
How straight time and overtime hours are shown on the WH-347, and the checks the preflight runs.
Certified payroll carries both the rate paid and the hours worked, split between straight-time and overtime. The figure the agency reads is not just the rate - it is the hours the rate was paid for.
Straight time and overtime
The WH-347 shows, for each worker and each day or period, the hours worked at the basic rate and the hours worked at overtime rates. Overtime under the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act is generally paid at not less than one and one-half times the basic rate of pay for hours over forty in a workweek.
What a preflight can check
Our preflight verifies that the hours and rates are numeric and non-negative, that the classification is present, and that the identifier is short. It does not decide the correct wage for a classification or compute the legal overtime premium for you - those turn on the applicable wage determination and the facts of the week, and only the contractor and the contracting officer can settle them.
Keep the detail
The agency may examine the contractor's basic records - time cards, payrolls and the rest - so the certified payroll is a summary of records you keep, not a substitute for them.
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.