wage
Understanding & Implementing Prevailing Wage Decisions
One would think that if a project had prevailing wage requirements that the Wage Decision would contain an easy to understand breakdown of the fringe benefit portion of the prevailing wage - however, that is not always the case. Wage Decisions can be quite difficult to understand; based on whether the project is funded with Federal or State money and whether or not there is a large Union presence in a specific state and unraveling this can quite often be very confusing.
There is no such thing as a totally straight forward, easy to understand Prevailing Wage Determination that I've ever seen (or even heard of for that matter), but you do need to be able to learn how to understand and interpret them - and going to the "source" (General Contractor, State Prevailing Wage Division, Union Hall, etc.) is the best way to learn.
Please be advised that the following is ONLY a general overview and does NOT take into consideration whether this is a Union or Non-Union shop or whether the fringes are paid to the Union Hall or into one or more bona-fide plans on behalf of the employee, or if you are paying the full fringe amount in cash in lieu of fringes.
Continue readingReporting Fringe Benefits Paid in Cash on Certified Payroll
Reporting fringe benefits paid in cash on the Federal WH-347 Certified Payroll Report has specific requirements which the built-in QuickBooks report cannot handle. Here is a question from a reader who is using the certified payroll report provided in the QuickBooks Enhanced Payroll subscription asking how cash fringes should be reported because her reports are being rejected because they aren't reporting the cash payment correctly.
This article will explain how any cash paid in lieu of fringe benefits on prevailing wage projects is supposed to be reported on the WH-347 form and why the built-in QuickBooks certified payroll report isn't handling it correctly.
Continue readingWage Restitution and Certified Payroll Revisions
Wage restitution and certified payroll revisions happen when you miss an update to the wage determination which increases the prevailing wage rate and the fringe benefit rate or perhaps you weren't informed until after working on the project for several weeks/months that this project was subject to prevailing wage.
Unfortunately, there isn't a lot of clear guidelines for submitting revised certified payroll reports, however, I've had experience in following two different sets of requirements, which I've outlined in this article.
Continue readingHow To Report an Owner/Employee on Certified Payroll
Prevailing Wage-Paying More Than the Wage Decision Requires
Payroll Tip – One Payroll Wage Item With Different Rates
Payroll Tip – Handling 1 Employee with 2 Union Benefit Packages
Prevailing Wage Jobs – Fringe Benefits Question
Payroll Tip – Be Prepared for Wage & Hour and IRS Audits
QuickBooks Payroll Tip – Wage Underpayments & Wage Restitution
5 Certified Paroll Reporting Mistakes & How To Avoid Them
The Benefits of Paying Prevailing Wage Fringes to a Bona-fide Plan
The benefits of paying the Prevailing Wage Fringe Benefit portion to bona-fide plan is often misunderstood by employers and employees alike.
Prevailing wage jobs, those jobs that are subject to the Davis-Bacon Act and/or State Prevailing Wage Laws, require that… Continue reading