How to Fill Out and Submit Oregon Form WH-38: Overtime and Fringes

Oregon’s Form WH-38 is the certified payroll statement that contractors and subcontractors file each week they have workers on a public works project covered by the state’s Prevailing Wage Rate law. You complete one WH-38 per workweek, sign the sworn certification on page two, and submit the package to the public agency that awarded the contract by the fifth business day of the month after the work was performed.¹ The form is prescribed by the Bureau of Labor and Industries and can be downloaded from oregon.gov/boli.

Who Files and Where the Form Goes

Every contractor and subcontractor on a covered public works project files its own certified payroll. The prime contractor does not file on behalf of its subs, and the subs do not file through the prime.¹

Submissions go to the public agency associated with the contract, not to BOLI. If a first-tier subcontractor falls behind, the prime contractor must withhold 25 percent of what that sub has earned until the missing payrolls are filed.²

You may use a substitute form that contains all the same data fields as the WH-38, but you still have to attach the signed certified statement from page two of the WH-38 to each weekly submission.² If the project is also subject to the federal Davis-Bacon Act, a single WH-38 can satisfy both state and federal reporting.³

What You Need Before You Start

You cannot complete the form accurately without the correct prevailing wage rates. BOLI publishes rate books organized by trade classification and region. The rate book in effect when the project was first advertised for bid is generally the one that governs the entire project.⁴

Classification is based on the work actually performed, not on job titles or credentials. A licensed electrician who spends a shift doing laborer work is reported and paid as a laborer for those hours. When a worker performs more than one classification in a week, either pay the highest applicable rate for all hours or break the time out on separate line entries showing the hours and rates for each classification.⁵

Each prevailing wage rate has two components: an hourly base rate and an hourly fringe benefit rate. Together they equal the total prevailing wage, and both must be fully accounted for on the form.⁶

Filling Out the Form

Header

At the top, enter the project name and location and the public agency associated with the contract. Mark whether you are the prime or a subcontractor. Enter the payroll number, which reflects how many weeks of work you have performed on the project so far. Enter the date the contract was first advertised for bid; this is what ties the project to a specific rate book. Check the applicable work schedule box, either the standard five eight-hour days (5/8) or the alternative four ten-hour days (4/10), and note the regular daily start and end times.⁵

The Seven Payroll Columns

The body of the form is a grid. Each worker gets a line, and each line walks across seven columns.

Column 1, Name and Address. Full name on every weekly payroll. The worker’s address appears on the first payroll only. An employee identification number is required on every payroll.
Column 2, Classification. Enter the classification that matches the work actually performed, along with the group number where one exists. Mark apprentices and show the current percentage, classification, and group number.
Column 3, Day, Date, and Hours Worked. Write the days of the week and corresponding dates across the top. Record straight-time hours in the S.T. row and overtime hours in the O.T. row for each day.
Column 4, Total Hours. Separate weekly totals for straight time and overtime on this project.
Column 5, Hourly Base Rate. The base rate plus zone pay where applicable, for both straight time and overtime.
Column 6, Fringe Benefits Paid as Wages. The hourly portion of the fringe rate paid directly to the worker as cash wages.
Column 7, Gross Amount Earned. Gross pay earned on this prevailing wage project for the week. If the worker also earned wages on other projects during the same pay period, only the PWR project earnings go here.

⁵

Page Two: The Certified Statement

Page two is the sworn certification. By signing, you attest under oath that the payroll information is accurate and that no worker on the project was paid less than the prevailing rate.¹ The certification includes representations about any fringe benefit contributions made to third-party plans, and it must be signed and attached to every weekly payroll you submit.⁵

Entering Overtime

Overtime is paid at one and one-half times the base rate, with zone pay included but the fringe portion excluded. The fringe rate itself is not multiplied for overtime hours.⁷

On a standard 5/8 schedule, any hours past eight in a single day are overtime. Work on Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays is overtime regardless of weekly total. If you have adopted a written 4/10 schedule (four consecutive ten-hour days, Monday through Thursday or Tuesday through Friday), the daily overtime threshold moves from eight to ten.⁵ Split those hours into the S.T. and O.T. rows accordingly in Column 3, and carry the totals through to Columns 4 and 5.

Entering Fringe Benefits

You have three ways to satisfy the fringe portion of the prevailing wage:

Pay the full fringe rate as cash wages on the regular payday.
Contribute the full fringe rate to qualifying benefit plans, which include health insurance, pension and retirement, paid time off, and apprenticeship training.
Split it, contributing part to plans and paying the remainder as cash.

Whichever method you use, every dollar of the fringe rate must be shown as an hourly amount on the certified payroll. Amounts paid to the worker as cash go in Column 6. Credits taken for third-party plan contributions must be listed separately for each worker, naming the plan and the hourly credit taken.⁶

Entering Apprentice Wages

An apprentice may be reported at an apprentice rate only if the worker is registered with BOLI’s Apprenticeship and Training Division or the Federal Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training, and the employer is a registered training agent. Without valid registration, the full journey-level rate applies.⁶

In Column 2, flag the worker as an apprentice and show the current percentage, classification, and group number. Apprentice pay rates come from the program standards and are published separately in BOLI’s apprentice rate schedules. The apprentice must be performing work within the registered trade and in the ratio to journey-level workers set by the program. If the required ratio is not maintained, every apprentice working during that time must be paid at the full journey-level rate for those hours.⁶

Deadline, Delivery, and Recordkeeping

Submit the completed WH-38 to the public agency associated with the project. Certified statements for each week you employed workers on the project are due by the fifth business day of the following month.¹ If your crew was on-site during any week in June, every June weekly payroll must reach the agency by the fifth business day of July.

When you batch several weekly payrolls into one monthly submission, each week still needs its own signed certification attached.⁵

Keep copies. Contractors and subcontractors must preserve certified statements for at least three years from the date the contract is completed.¹

If You File Late or File Something False

Missing a deadline triggers immediate retainage. The public agency must withhold 25 percent of the prime contractor’s earnings when the prime fails to file, and the prime must do the same to a first-tier subcontractor that falls behind.⁶

The Commissioner of BOLI can also impose civil penalties of up to $5,000 for each violation of the prevailing wage statutes or rules. Failure to pay the base rate and failure to pay the fringe rate count as separate violations, so a single underpaid worker can produce two penalties.⁸ Submitting false or incomplete certified payroll information can land a contractor on BOLI’s ineligibility list, barring future public works contracts and subcontracts.⁶

Intentional failure to pay prevailing wages, or an agreement with a worker to perform public works below the prevailing rate, is a Class C felony. The criminal threshold applies when the underpayment equals or exceeds 25 percent of the wages owed, or $1,000 in a single pay period, whichever is greater.⁹ Workers can file wage claims for prevailing wage violations going back up to six years.⁶

1
Oregon Public Law. ORS 279C.845 – Certified Statements Regarding Payment of Prevailing Rates of Wage
2
Oregon Public Law. OAR 839-025-0010 – Payroll and Certified Statement Requirements
3
Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries. Payroll/Certified Statement Form WH-38
4
State of Oregon. BOLI – Prevailing Wage Rates – For Employers
5
Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries. Instructions for Completing the Prevailing Wage Rate Payroll/Certified Statement Form WH-38
6
State of Oregon. BOLI – Prevailing Wage – For Employers
7
Oregon State Legislature. BOLI Certified Payroll Reports Handout
8
Oregon Public Law. ORS 279C.865 – Civil Penalties
9
Oregon Public Law. ORS 279C.875 – Criminal Liability for Intentional Failure to Pay Prevailing Rate of Wage