Certified payroll guide
When an agency requires a portal for certified payroll
29 CFR 5.5(a)(3) lets an agency or prime require an electronic system, and requires that they still permit other methods when a contractor cannot use it.
Many agencies and primes now require certified payroll to be submitted through an electronic system rather than on paper. The rule that allows this also limits it, in a way contractors should know.
The portal rule
29 CFR 5.5(a)(3) provides that a contracting agency or prime contractor may permit or require contractors to submit certified payrolls through an electronic system. Where they do, the regulation also requires that the certified payrolls remain accessible to the contractor, the contracting agency and the Department of Labor for at least three years after the work on the prime contract is complete, and that an electronic submission carry a legally valid electronic signature.
The limit that matters
The same provision says the electronic system may be required only so long as the agency or prime also permits other methods of submission in situations where the contractor is unable or limited in its ability to use or access the electronic system. In other words, a portal mandate cannot fully close the door on a contractor who cannot use the portal.
What that means for your file
A corrected, portable export is never wasted. Whatever the agency's system, the data has to be right first. That is what the preflight gives you, in a form you can move into the portal the agency uses.
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.