California DIR – New Prevailing Wage Compliance Requirements for Contractors

Beginning August 1, 2010 contractors working on public works construction projects in California will find that they are subject to the regulations of the Public Works Compliance Monitoring Unit (CMU) – part of the California Department of Industrial Relations – in accordance with State Senate Bill X2-9, that was signed into law in February 2009.

The CMU will conduct the required monitoring and enforcement of the states public works prevailing wage laws on specific state bond funded and/or design-build procurement construction projects undertaken by public entities in California and awarded on or after the effect date of the regulations – August 1, 2010.

The California Department of Industrial Relations Compliance Monitoring Unit’s mission is to ensure that workers on state bond funded and/or design-build procurement construction projects are being paid the proper prevailing wage rates, published by the DIR through the Division of Labor Statistics & Research (DLSR) for the they of work they are performing (work classification).  This is all done to create a level playing field for contractors and to verify that state construction projects are completed in compliance with state labor laws.

As a contractor working on these projects, how does this affect me?

The bottom line is that you will need to electronically file your certified payroll reports (rather than submit a paper form) using an independent on-line or internet based Labor Compliance Program (LCP), which has been developed by TRS Consultants, Inc. (https://www.trsconsultants.com/trs/cm/index.html and https://www.mylcm.com/Pages/mylcm.aspx)

You will be able to either manually enter your payroll data or upload your payroll data, from major construction accounting and payroll program (including QuickBooks when used in conjunction with our Certified Payroll Solution QuickBooks integrated add-on), into the electronic certified payroll reporting (eCPR) system.

You will need to register, and make sure that ALL of your subcontractors and lower-tier subcontractors are registered with the Labor Compliance Program (LCP), are trained in the use of the eCPR system, and are electronically submitting their certified payroll data.

eCPR training and on-going support is provided at no charge to contractors and participating sub-contractors.

As an added “bonus” ALL contract-specific wage rates and classifications are available within the eCPR system; this makes it easier for contractors to find the wage decision and applicable wage rates for their employees.

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Certified Payroll Solution has provided a bridge between QuickBooks and the Labor Compliance Program developed by TRS Consultants, Inc. since August 2004, by taking the certified payroll data and saving it in a specific file format – the user then logs into the on-line program, and uploads the file from their computer.

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Web Resources:

• California Department of Industrial Relations, Public Works Compliance Monitoring Unit Website – https://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/cmu/cmu.html
• Current List of Bond Projects under jurisdiction of the CMU – https://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/cmu/Bond_projects.html
• TRS Consultants Labor Compliance Management Program ONLINE DEMO – https://www.mylcm.com/Pages/mylcm.aspx
• How do I file electronic payroll reports – https://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/cmu/How_to_file_epr.html
• Labor Compliance Programs & SBX2-9 Implementation – https://www.dir.ca.gov/lcp.asp
• California DIR CMU Frequently Asked Questions – https://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/cmu/Frequently_asked_questions.html