California certified payroll: DIR's eCPR system, the worker data it requires, and federal jobs

California certified payroll goes to the Labor Commissioner, part of the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR), through DIR's online system. It is a separate filing from the federal WH-347, with different worker data, and on a job with federal money you file both.

The law and its thresholds

The rules are in the public works chapter of the Labor Code, starting at section 1720. DIR's definition of public works covers construction, alteration, demolition, installation, or repair work done under contract and paid for in whole or in part out of public funds. Section 1771 requires prevailing wage on public works over $1,000, including maintenance contracts. It doesn't apply to work a public agency does with its own employees.

The dollar figures that matter to a sub:

• $1,000 or less. No prevailing wage requirement under section 1771.
• Up to $25,000 for construction, or $15,000 for maintenance. The small project exemption. You don't need DIR registration and you don't file eCPR. DIR applies it to the amount of the entire project, so a $10,000 subcontract on a $2 million job gets no exemption. Prevailing wage still applies, and section 1771.4(a)(4) requires you to keep the payroll records for at least 3 years after the work is done.
• $30,000 or more. Contracts at this size carry the apprentice requirements described below.

DIR also lists projects monitored by 4 legacy labor compliance programs (Caltrans, the City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles Unified School District, and the County of Sacramento) and work under a qualifying project labor agreement as exempt from reporting to DIR.

Filing through eCPR

Section 1771.4(a)(3) requires each contractor and subcontractor to furnish its payroll records directly to the Labor Commissioner, electronically, on DIR's website. The statute defines "monthly" as at least once every 30 days while work is being performed and within 30 days after the final day of work. Your contract can require more often.

Late filing costs $100 a day, capped at $5,000 per project. The Labor Commissioner can't start the penalty until you are 14 days past the deadline, and it falls only on the contractor that failed to file.

DIR replaced its separate PWC-100, PWCR, and eCPR applications with one Public Works website services system in June 2024. You create a user account and request to join each project. Each project has a DIR Project ID (often called the PWC-100 number), and an XML upload has to match it. DIR's guide shows 2 ways to submit:

• Manual entry. You register each employee with an address and classification, add them to the week's payroll, and enter hours by day, rates, fringe benefits, travel and subsistence, deductions, and gross wages. You sign and submit at the end. The system can save employees and duplicate an earlier submission.
• XML upload. You build a file to DIR's schema (CPR.xsd); the guidelines are version 2.0, dated March 2026. Each employee's name element carries an id in the form SSN::NAME, with the name in capitals. Leave the payroll number and amendment number empty, since eCPR assigns them. Fringe contributions go in as hourly amounts, and deductions as a lump sum for the week.

Weeks with no work. eCPR uses a Statement of Non-Performance. In XML you set the statementOfNP element to true and include no employees. DIR's description of the new system says a single eCPR record can cover several weeks of non-performance. A Statement of Non-Performance also replaces a payroll you filed by mistake for a period with no work. How no-work weeks work on the federal side.

The paper form. DLSE Form A-1-131, the Public Works Payroll Reporting Form, is the state's payroll layout. Under section 1776(c), records that don't go to the Labor Commissioner electronically must be on DLSE forms or contain the same information.

Worker data the WH-347 doesn't carry

Section 1776(a) requires payroll records showing each worker's name, address, Social Security number, work classification, straight time and overtime hours each day and week, and actual per diem wages paid. DIR's upload guide lists the full SSN and home address as required for a valid XML file, and manual entry asks for the address when you register the worker.

If you, as an owner, work on the project, DIR's FAQ says to report the same information for yourself plus an estimate of what you were paid for your labor.

Copies released to the public have each worker's name, address, and SSN blacked out (section 1776(e)). Taft-Hartley trust funds get the last 4 digits of the SSN.

The federal rule runs the other way. 29 CFR 5.5(a)(3)(ii) bars full Social Security numbers and home addresses from the weekly WH-347 and uses an individually identifying number such as the last 4 digits. How the federal identifying number works.

Registration and other rules that bear on payroll

Registration. You must be registered with DIR to bid on, be listed in a bid for, or perform public work, at every tier. DIR's registration page lists the fee as $400 per fiscal year (July 1 to June 30), payable up to 3 years ahead. You need workers' compensation coverage, any required CSLB license, no delinquent wage or penalty assessments, no debarment, and registered subcontractors. A first registration after bidding on or working on public works in the prior 12 months carries a $2,000 penalty.

Daily overtime. Section 1815 requires at least 1.5 times the basic rate for hours over 8 in a day, and DIR's FAQ adds hours over 40 in a week. Your payroll has to show straight time and overtime hours for each day. Overtime on prevailing wage jobs.

Apprentices. On contracts of $30,000 or more, you submit contract award information on form DAS 140 and request apprentices on form DAS 142 at least 3 business days before you need them. The required ratio is 1 hour of apprentice work for every 5 hours of journeyman work. Training fund contributions in the amount set in the wage determination go to the apprenticeship committee or the California Apprenticeship Council. Under section 1777.5, only apprentices in training under DAS-approved standards, with written apprentice agreements, can be employed as apprentices, and each is paid the apprentice rate for the trade they're registered in and works only in that trade.

Records requests. Section 1776(h) gives you 10 days to provide certified payroll records after a written request. After that, the penalty is $100 per calendar day for each worker.

Jobs with federal money

DIR's FAQ says California law does not apply to projects awarded by and under the complete control of the federal government. Federally funded or assisted projects controlled by California awarding bodies, which DIR says includes most highway construction, are subject to state law: contractor and project registration, eCPR, and California rates where they exceed the Davis-Bacon rates.

The U.S. Department of Labor says that when both apply, you pay whichever rate is higher, classification by classification. The 2 filings stay separate:

• Federal: a weekly WH-347 sent up the chain to the prime, with no full SSNs or addresses.
• State: eCPR to DIR at least every 30 days, with full SSNs and addresses.

The hours and pay are the same on both. How the other states compare.

What CertifiedHours does here

CertifiedHours produces the federal WH-347, plus an LCPtracker upload file and a CSV, for federally funded work in California. It does not file in DIR's eCPR system, and it does not collect full Social Security numbers or home addresses, both of which eCPR requires. For state-funded work, file directly in DIR's system. Using the LCPtracker file.