How to Fill Out and Submit the NYS Certified Payroll Form

To complete and file the NYS certified payroll form, fill out federal Form WH-347 with each worker’s name, classification, daily hours, prevailing wage rate, fringe benefits, and deductions, sign the sworn Statement of Compliance, and upload the record every 30 days through the state’s Certified Payroll portal on MPWR (My Projects, Wages, and Records). As of December 31, 2025, electronic submission through MPWR is mandatory for all Article 8 public construction projects, and every prime contractor and subcontractor on the job must file their own records.¹²

What to Gather Before You File

Four items are required fields in the MPWR portal, and the system will not accept a submission without them:²

Your federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN).
Your NYS Contractor Registration Number, from the Certificate of Contractor Registration that Labor Law Section 220-i(6) requires you to submit with your bid.
The project’s Prevailing Rate Case (PRC) number, provided by the awarding agency.
A copy of your payment bond, for public improvement projects.

You also need the current prevailing wage schedule for the county and trade classifications on your project. NYSDOL publishes Article 8 construction schedules and Article 9 building service schedules online, searchable by county, with corrections and updates posted on the first business day of each month. Contractors must pay updated rates retroactive to July 1 of the applicable year, so checking the schedule monthly is the simplest way to avoid an underpayment that later triggers a back-pay order.³

Filling Out Form WH-347

New York uses federal Form WH-347 as its payroll form. It was designed for Davis-Bacon Act projects, but its fields map to what MPWR expects.⁴

Do not confuse WH-347 with Form AC 2947. AC 2947 is a separate Prime Contractor’s Certification under Labor Law Section 220-a, filed once at the end of the project by the general contractor to certify that it and all its subcontractors paid prevailing wages. It is not a recurring payroll report.⁵

Worker Identification

For each worker, enter the full name, current address, and an individual identifying number. The last four digits of the Social Security number is standard; the MPWR portal also accepts a birth date as an alternative.² Mark each worker “J” for journeyworker or “RA” for registered apprentice. Apprentices may be paid the lower apprentice prevailing rate only if they are individually registered in an apprenticeship program before starting work on the project.⁶

Classification, Hours, and Rate

List the labor classification for the specific trade or occupation the worker actually performed, not just a general job title. Classification drives which prevailing rate applies, so a mislabeled worker is one of the fastest routes to an underpayment finding. Record hours worked day by day, split straight time from overtime, and total the week. Enter the actual hourly rate paid for straight time and for overtime; it must meet or exceed the schedule rate for that classification in the project’s county.⁶

Fringe Benefits

Fringe benefits have their own columns. If you contribute to bona fide benefit plans (health insurance, pension, annuity), enter the total hourly value in the fringe benefit credit column. If you pay the fringe amount to the worker in cash instead, enter it in the “payment in lieu of fringe benefits” column.⁶ The wage plus fringe value combined must equal or exceed the total prevailing rate (wage plus supplement) on the schedule. Shortchanging the supplement portion carries the same penalties as shortchanging the wage.

Deductions and Net Pay

Record every deduction taken from gross earnings — federal and state taxes, authorized union dues, and any other withholding the worker consented to in writing. Then calculate the net actually paid. When daily hours, rates, fringe entries, and deductions reconcile cleanly to the net pay figure, the payroll is internally consistent and far less likely to draw an audit inquiry.

Signing the Statement of Compliance

Every payroll must include a signed Statement of Compliance. New York Labor Law requires payroll transcripts to be “subscribed and sworn to or affirmed … as true under the penalties of perjury.”⁷ On WH-347, the Statement is the second page. The signer certifies that wages meet or exceed the prevailing rates, that fringe benefit contributions are accurate, and that no unauthorized deductions or kickbacks occurred.⁶

Only someone authorized to bind the company should sign: an officer, a principal, or a designated payroll supervisor. Filing false information on a certified payroll is offering a false instrument for filing in the first degree under New York Penal Law Section 175.35, a Class E felony.⁸

Submitting Through the MPWR Portal

Since December 31, 2025, all contractors and subcontractors on Article 8 projects must submit electronically through the Certified Payroll portal on MPWR.¹ You log in with a free NY.gov account. NYSDOL posts a step-by-step user guide and a PowerPoint walkthrough on the Electronic Payroll Submission page, along with instructions for bulk-uploading via a pre-formatted XML file, which saves substantial time for firms with large crews.²

Payroll records must be submitted every 30 days, starting within 30 days of your first payroll on the project.² Many contractors assume the interval is weekly because federal Davis-Bacon projects run that way. In New York, the statute sets a 30-day cycle.⁷ Some awarding agencies impose tighter deadlines in their contract terms, and progress payments are often tied to payrolls being current, so check your contract for a project-specific schedule.

On a project with multiple subcontractors, each firm submits directly through the portal using the same PRC number. The system automatically appends a modifier (-1, -2, -3) to distinguish entries under the same case number.²

Keep Your Own Copies for Six Years

New York Labor Law requires employers to maintain accurate payroll records — hours worked, gross wages, deductions, and net wages — for at least six years. That window aligns with the statute of limitations for wage claims, so keeping records for less time leaves you unable to defend against a back-pay order.

If a Subcontractor Files Yours

If you are a general contractor, do not treat your subcontractors’ submissions as their problem alone. Under Labor Law Section 198-e, primes carry joint and several liability for wage theft by subcontractors at any tier, covering unpaid wages, benefits, supplements, interest, liquidated damages, and attorney fees. The liability cannot be waived by contract, though a collective bargaining agreement with a building trades union can modify it, and the exposure window reaches claims from the three years preceding the complaint.⁹

General Business Law Section 756-f gives you the right to request certified payroll records from any subcontractor and to withhold payment until they comply. Reviewing those records before they hit MPWR is cheaper than fixing a problem after the state opens an investigation.

What Noncompliance Costs

Back Pay, Interest, and Civil Penalty

When NYSDOL or the awarding agency’s fiscal officer finds workers were underpaid, the order requires the full wage and supplement shortfall plus interest set by the Superintendent of Financial Services under Section 14-a of the Banking Law, running from the date of underpayment to the date of payment. A civil penalty of up to 25 percent of the total amount due can be added on top, weighed against the employer’s size, good faith, the gravity of the violation, and any prior history.¹⁰

Five-Year Debarment

A contractor or subcontractor is banned for five years from bidding on or being awarded any public work contract in New York after either two willful violations within any six-year period or a single willful violation involving falsified payroll or kickbacks.¹¹ Debarment reaches beyond the company: officers who knowingly participated, partners, and shareholders holding at least 10 percent of the firm’s stock are all covered.¹² Article 9 building service contractors face the same five-year debarment for violations under that article.¹³

Criminal Charges

A certified payroll that contains false statements — inflated hours, fabricated employees, or rates that don’t match actual payments — can be charged as offering a false instrument for filing in the first degree, a Class E felony under Penal Law Section 175.35.⁸ Because every submission carries a perjury declaration, each one is a separate potential charge.

Post the Wage Rates on Site

Filing is only half the compliance obligation. Contractors and subcontractors must also post a legible statement of all wage rates and supplements at a prominent, accessible location on the job site, matching the contract specifications.⁷ Workers should be able to compare their pay stubs to the posted rate for their classification. Investigators check for the posting during site visits, and its absence often signals broader problems.

1
New York State Department of Labor. Bureau of Public Work and Prevailing Wage Enforcement
2
New York State Department of Labor. Electronic Payroll Submission
3
New York State Department of Labor. Prevailing Wage Schedules
4
New York State Department of Transportation. Labor
5
New York State Department of Transportation. AC 2947 Prime Contractor’s Labor Certification
6
U.S. Department of Labor. Instructions For Completing Davis-Bacon and Related Acts Weekly Payroll
7
New York State Senate. New York Consolidated Laws, Labor Law – LAB Section 220
8
New York State Senate. New York Penal Law 175.35 – Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree
9
New York State Senate. New York Labor Law Section 198-E – Construction Industry Wage Theft
10
New York State Senate. New York Labor Law Section 220
11
New York State Department of Labor. Wage Theft – Bureau of Public Work and Prevailing Wage Enforcement Laws and Guidance
12
New York State Senate. New York Consolidated Laws, Labor Law – LAB Section 220-b
13
New York State Department of Labor. Article 9 Frequently Asked Questions