The 12 mistakes that get certified payrolls rejected

A rejected certified payroll costs a week of progress payment and an afternoon of correspondence. The reviewers who reject them work from a short mental list. Here it is, with the rule behind each item.

1. Overtime computed on the fringe-inclusive rate

The overtime rate is 1.5 times the basic hourly rate in column 6A. Fringe is excluded from the overtime calculation under 29 CFR 5.32. On a $42.15 basic and $18.40 fringe determination, the overtime line is $63.225. A payroll showing $90.825 is paying more than required and confusing the reviewer, who will ask what rate you are actually paying.

Fix: overtime line = 1.5 × column 6A straight time. Fringe stays at its hourly amount on every hour.

2. Fringe left off overtime hours

The opposite error. The fringe is owed on every hour worked, overtime included, at the plain hourly rate. A worker with 44 hours and fringe paid as cash has 44 × fringe in column 6C, not 40.

Fix: multiply the fringe rate by total hours in column 5.

3. More than 40 straight time hours

The straight time line across the week adds to 42 with nothing on the overtime line. On contracts over $100,000, CWHSSA requires overtime after 40 hours in the workweek; the FLSA requires it for most construction workers regardless of contract size.

Fix: everything after the 40th hour in the week moves to the overtime line, at the overtime rate.

4. Classification wording that doesn't match the determination

The determination says "Laborer Group 1"; the payroll says "Laborer." The determination says "Power Equipment Operator, Group 2"; the payroll says "Operator." Reviewers compare the payroll to the determination line by line, and a name that is not on the determination cannot be checked against a rate.

Fix: copy the classification text from the wage determination, including group and zone.

5. A classification that isn't on the determination at all

The crew does work the determination does not list, and the payroll uses the nearest name. There is no nearest name. Work not covered by an existing classification requires a conformance through the contracting agency on Standard Form 1444, and until the conformed rate is approved, the payroll should show the requested classification and rate with a note that a conformance is pending. How conformances work.

Fix: request the conformance before the first week the work is performed; note "conformance requested" in the remarks.

6. One classification for a worker who did two

The daily logs show a laborer operating equipment Tuesday and Wednesday. The payroll shows 40 laborer hours. Davis-Bacon pays for the work performed, so the equipment hours are owed at the operator rate, and the form wants a second row with the same entry number. Two classifications in a week.

Fix: one row per classification per worker, same column 1A number, hours split by day.

7. Gross that doesn't compute from the row

Column 7A should equal straight hours × straight rate + overtime hours × overtime rate + cash fringe (column 6C). When the payroll system's gross includes a bonus, a per diem, or a rounding difference, the row does not tie, and the reviewer cannot tell whether the rate or the hours are wrong.

Fix: compute 7A from the row. Put anything else in 7B, gross for all work, where it belongs.

8. Rates below the wage determination

A basic rate paid below the determination's basic rate, or basic plus fringe below the determination total. This is an underpayment, not a paperwork error, and the correction includes paying the difference. It often happens when a determination was modified before award and the contractor bid from an old copy, or when apprentices are paid a percentage of the wrong journeyworker rate.

Fix: check every classification's rate against the determination and modification number in the contract, on the first payroll and whenever a new classification appears.

9. Apprentices without the paperwork

Column 2 says RA and box 4 on page 2 is checked, and the program name is blank, or the worker is not individually registered. An unregistered apprentice is owed the full journeyworker rate for every hour. The apprentice rules.

Fix: registration certificate for the program and the individual apprentice in the project file before the first payroll; program name and OA or SAA registration on page 2.

10. Deductions with no explanation

Column 8 "other" shows $85.00 and nothing says what it is. Every deduction must be one that 29 CFR part 3 permits, and the reviewer cannot tell a 401(k) contribution from a tool charge without a label.

Fix: identify every "other" deduction in the remarks: "401(k)," "union dues," "child support order." When one figure combines several, attach an addendum listing each.

11. Missing weeks and broken numbering

Payroll 7 is followed by payroll 9, or a payroll for the week of the 12th is followed by one for the week of the 26th. The reviewer does not know whether the crew was absent or the payroll is missing. Most agencies and primes want a no-work payroll for each idle week, numbered in sequence. No-work weeks.

Fix: a payroll for every week from first day to final, with consecutive numbers.

12. Signature problems

A scanned image of a signature pasted on the PDF. A signature by someone with no connection to payroll. A Statement of Compliance with boxes 1, 2, 3, and 6 unchecked because the signer assumed they were optional. The regulation requires an original handwritten signature or a legally valid electronic signature by the contractor, subcontractor, or the agent who pays or supervises payment, and the 4 boxes are the certifications the regulation requires in every case. The Statement of Compliance.

Fix: ink on paper or a real electronic signature; boxes 1, 2, 3, and 6 always checked; 4 and 5 when apprentices or plan credits appear.

Two habits that prevent most of the list

Enter the wage determination's classifications and rates once, at the start of the project, and pull from them every week rather than retyping. Items 4, 5, and 8 disappear.

Check the row arithmetic before signing: straight hours ≤ 40, overtime rate = 1.5 × basic, fringe × all hours, gross computed from the row. Items 1, 2, 3, and 7 disappear. That check takes about a minute per worker with a calculator and no time at all with software that does it for you.

A prime reviewing a sub's payroll before forwarding it can work from the prime's one-page review checklist, which adds the checks against the contract and the sub's earlier payrolls.