New Jersey certified payroll: the MW-562, the NJ Wage Hub, and the 10-day rule

New Jersey's certified payroll rules come from the Prevailing Wage Act, N.J.S.A. 34:11-56.25 et seq., and its regulations at N.J.A.C. 12:60. They cover state and local public works. The Department of Labor and Workforce Development's FAQ says its Wage and Hour office does not monitor projects covered only by the federal Davis-Bacon Act; those payrolls go to the federal agency.

Which jobs are covered

Public work under the Act is construction, reconstruction, demolition, alteration, custom fabrication, repair, or maintenance work (including painting and decorating) done under contract and paid for in whole or in part with a public body's funds. Public bodies are the state, its political subdivisions, and the authorities and agencies the Legislature created.

The contract thresholds:

• Work paid for by a municipality: $19,375 or more, effective July 1, 2024. The statute adjusts this figure every 5 years.
• Every other public body, including boards of education, counties, and utility authorities: $2,000.

Coverage also reaches some privately owned projects that get loans, tax exemptions, or other assistance from listed state authorities, such as the Economic Development Authority, and work on premises a public body leases or will lease (at least 55% of the property and more than 20,000 square feet). The public body must give you the wage determination when it awards the contract.

How and when you file

Section 34:11-56.29 requires every contractor and subcontractor to submit certified payroll records for each payroll period within 10 days of the date the wages were paid. They go to 2 places:

1. The Department, through the NJ Wage Hub (njwages.nj.gov).
2. The public body that awarded the contract, or the other party to the lease on a leased-premises job. The statute says the online filing "does not relieve the contractor" of this one.

Sending your payrolls to the prime does not count as filing with the public body. The Department's FAQ says each subcontractor files with the awarding public body itself, and that the payroll filed with the public body needs an original signature. The MW-562 says the public body's copy can go through the Wage Hub or by other methods, so ask the public body at the start of the job which it wants.

The form. New Jersey's form is the MW-562, Payroll Certification for Public Works Projects. The current version is dated 2/25; the Department says the 6/23 version still works in the system. The Wage Hub accepts a payroll 4 ways: typed in on screen, an electronically filled MW-562 uploaded as a PDF, the Wage Hub's 2 CSV templates (one for hours and deductions, one for fringe benefits), or an export from Quantum Project Manager.

Getting onto the project. Only the general contractor can add a subcontractor to a project in the Wage Hub. Once added, you get an email and the project appears on your dashboard. To sign up you need your 9-digit FEIN, your contractor registration number, and the 10-digit reference ID emailed to you when you applied for registration.

No-work weeks and the final payroll. The 2/25 MW-562 and the Wage Hub both have a "No Work Week" box and a "Final Certification" box. When the prime marks its final certification, the project closes.

Corrections. A submitted Wage Hub payroll can't be edited. You file again with the same week-ending date, usually with the Duplicate & Edit button.

What New Jersey asks for that the WH-347 doesn't

For each worker, the MW-562 and the Wage Hub ask for:

• Home address: street, city, and state.
• Sex, race, and ethnicity, from the codes on the form (sex is M, F, or N for non-binary). The Department's user guide says Wage Hub filings also satisfy the Diane B. Allen Equal Pay Act.
• Job title as apprentice, journeyman, or foreman, separate from the work classification.
• Federal tax and state tax as separate deductions, next to FICA and other.
• Fringe plan details: the hourly amount for each benefit type, the plan's name and address, its USDOL filing number or EIN, and a contact person. The Department computes the hourly credit by dividing the annual cost per employee by 2,000 hours.

The MW-562 has no column for a Social Security number. Your own records still need it: the Department's public works page lists each worker's name, address, Social Security number, and craft among the records every contractor must maintain. When the Department posts certified payrolls for the public, the statute has it redact only addresses and Social Security numbers.

The certification on the MW-562 cites the New Jersey Act, N.J.A.C. 12:60, and the state Payment of Wages Law in place of the federal rules, and certifies that apprentices are registered with the U.S. Department of Labor's apprenticeship office.

Registration and other rules that touch payroll

Contractor registration. Under the Public Works Contractor Registration Act, N.J.S.A. 34:11-56.48 et seq., no contractor may bid on public work, and no contractor or subcontractor may perform any of it, without being registered. That includes subs not named in the bid. The fee is $500 a year; after 2 consecutive years you can register for a 2-year period for $750. A contractor that directly employs craftworkers must take part in a registered apprenticeship program for each craft it employs.

Apprentices. The Department's FAQ says a worker can be paid the apprentice rate only if enrolled in a program approved by the U.S. Department of Labor. Everyone else gets at least the journeyman rate.

Posting and orientation. Post the rates for each craft at the site or where you pay wages. The Act also requires an orientation meeting for each employee on, or up to 3 days before, the first day on a project, explaining the worker's wages and classification. Each employee signs a form, which you keep for 6 years. Workers covered by a collective bargaining agreement are exempt.

Owners on the payroll. Owner-operators and corporate officers who do covered work go on the certified payroll with the same information as any employee.

Records. Keep payroll records for 2 years from the date of payment, and produce them to the Department within 10 days of a request.

Jobs with federal money

The Department's FAQ names highways and airports as projects that can fall under both laws. On those jobs you pay the higher of the 2 rates for each classification, which satisfies both. The filings stay separate: the MW-562 data goes to the Wage Hub and the public body, and the WH-347 goes up the federal chain to the prime and the contracting agency without addresses, full Social Security numbers, or demographic codes. The same hours and pay appear on both. How the federal and state reports compare.

What CertifiedHours does here

CertifiedHours produces the federal WH-347, plus an LCPtracker upload file and a CSV, for federally funded work. It does not produce the MW-562 or file in the NJ Wage Hub, and it does not collect full Social Security numbers or home addresses. On a New Jersey job with federal money, it covers the WH-347; the state payroll still goes through the Wage Hub and to the public body.