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Certified payroll

New Jersey certified payroll: how often, where to file, how long to keep

By the Public Works Desk Team · Last verified · How we check every number · Corrections

Source: New Jersey Prevailing Wage Act (N.J.S.A. 34:11-56.25 et seq.) and N.J.A.C. 12:60 (retrieved 2026-11-13)

New Jersey public works contractors file a certified payroll record

every payroll period, within 10 days of the day wages were paid,

and they must send it to both the public body that awarded the contract and NJDOL through its secure website.

Records are kept for two years from the date of payment.

  • State text quoted word for word
  • Checked November 13, 2026
A subcontractor's owner signs the certification on a weekly payroll sheet in a site trailer, with pines, a moss-draped oak and an excavated ditch outside.

New Jersey at a glance

How oftenEach payroll period, within 10 days of payday
Send toPublic body AND NJDOL online (both)
System / formatNJDOL secure website + copy to the public body
Keep recordsYou keep: 2 years from the date of payment
If you don'tCommissioner's enforcement powers (N.J.S.A. 34:11-56.31)

Worked example: weekly paydays in January 2027

PaydayFile by (payday + 10 days)
January 8, 2027January 18, 2027
January 15, 2027January 25, 2027
January 22, 2027February 1, 2027
January 29, 2027February 8, 2027

Count calendar days from the day wages are paid.

If your public body asks for an earlier date in the contract, that date controls.

What the law says

“each payroll period within 10 days of the date on which the wages were paid to a worker.”

New Jersey Prevailing Wage Act (N.J.S.A. 34:11-56.25 et seq.) and N.J.A.C. 12:60 · retrieved 2026-11-13

“Online certified payroll record submission to the department does not relieve the contractor of

the requirement to submit certified payroll records to the public body awarding the contract.”

New Jersey Prevailing Wage Act (N.J.S.A. 34:11-56.25 et seq.) and N.J.A.C. 12:60 · retrieved 2026-11-13

“and such records shall be preserved for two years from date of payment.”

New Jersey Prevailing Wage Act (N.J.S.A. 34:11-56.25 et seq.) and N.J.A.C. 12:60 · retrieved 2026-11-13

Step by step

  1. Register under PWCRAContractors and subcontractors must hold a Public Works Contractor Registration before bidding or working.
  2. Run payroll, note the paydayThe 10-day clock starts on the day wages are paid, not the end of the work week.
  3. Upload to NJDOLSubmit the record through NJDOL's secure online system.
  4. Send the same record to the public bodyThe online filing does not replace the copy for the awarding public body; both get it.
Common mistakes
  • Filing only with the prime contractor: every sub files directly.
  • Filing only online with NJDOL and skipping the public body.
  • Counting 10 days from the end of the work week instead of from payday.
Federal money on the job? New Jersey files Each payroll period, within 10 days of payday, sent to Public body AND NJDOL online (both). New Jersey's 2-year rule is shorter than the federal one. On a federally funded job, keep payrolls for at least 3 years after all the work on the prime contract is completed (29 CFR 5.5(a)(3)): the federal floor is the one that binds, and the weekly WH-347 goes in too.
Limits. New Jersey's filing and recordkeeping rules here are for state public works, quoted from the statutes cited below. They do not replace the weekly WH-347 or the federal 3-year retention period (29 CFR 5.5(a)(3)) on a Davis-Bacon job. Penalty language is quoted, not computed.

Related

Other states

Sources