Notice2024-19482
Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request; Information Collections: Davis-Bacon Certified Payroll
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
August 30, 2024
Issuing agencies
Labor DepartmentWage and Hour Division
Abstract
The Department of Labor (Department), is soliciting comments concerning a proposed revision of the information collection request (ICR) titled "Davis-Bacon Certified Payroll." This comment request is part of continuing Departmental efforts to reduce paperwork and respondent burden in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). The PRA comment process helps to ensure that requested data can be provided in the desired format, reporting burden (time and financial resources) is minimized, collection instruments are clearly understood, and the impact of collection requirements on respondents can be properly assessed. A copy of the proposed information collection request can be obtained by contacting the office listed below in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this Notice.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 169 (Friday, August 30, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 169 (Friday, August 30, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70670-70671]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-19482]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Wage and Hour Division
Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request;
Information Collections: Davis-Bacon Certified Payroll
AGENCY: Wage and Hour Division, Department of Labor.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor (Department), is soliciting comments
concerning a proposed revision of the information collection request
(ICR) titled ``Davis-Bacon Certified Payroll.'' This comment request is
part of continuing Departmental efforts to reduce paperwork and
respondent burden in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995 (PRA). The PRA comment process helps to ensure that requested data
can be provided in the desired format, reporting burden (time and
financial resources) is minimized, collection instruments are clearly
understood, and the impact of collection requirements on respondents
can be properly assessed. A copy of the proposed information collection
request can be obtained by contacting the office listed below in the
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this Notice.
DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the
addresses section below on or before October 29, 2024.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Control Number 1235-
0008, by either one of the following methods: Email:
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#76213e3226243735191b1b131802053612191a58111900"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="71263935212330321e1c1c141f050231151e1d5f161e07">[email protected]</span></a>. Mail, Hand Delivery, Courier: Division of
Regulations, Legislation, and Interpretation, Wage and Hour Division,
U.S. Department of Labor, Room S-3502, 200 Constitution Avenue NW,
Washington, DC 20210.
Instructions: Please submit one copy of your comments by only one
method. All submissions received must include the agency name and
Control Number identified above for this information collection.
Commenters are encouraged to transmit their comments electronically via
email or to submit them by mail early. Comments, including any personal
information provided, become a matter of public record. They will also
be summarized and/or included in the request for Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) approval of the information collection request.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert Waterman, Division of
Regulations, Legislation, and Interpretation, Wage and Hour Division,
U.S. Department of Labor, Room S-3502, 200 Constitution Avenue NW,
Washington, DC 20210; telephone: (202) 693-0406 (this is not a toll-
free number). Alternative formats of this notice, e.g., braille,
audiotape, or other accessible formats, are available upon request by
calling 1-866-487-9243. If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a
speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay
services.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background: The Davis-Bacon Act (DBA), as enacted in 1931 and
subsequently amended, requires the payment of minimum prevailing wages
determined by the Department of Labor to laborers and mechanics working
on federal contracts in excess of $2,000 for the construction,
alteration, or repair, including painting and decorating, of public
buildings and public works. See 40 U.S.C. 3141 et seq. Congress has
also included the Davis-Bacon requirements in numerous other laws,
known as the Davis-Bacon Related Acts (the Related Acts and,
collectively with the Davis-Bacon Act, the DBRA), which provide federal
assistance for construction projects through grants, loans, loan
guarantees, insurance, and other methods.
The Copeland Act (40 U.S.C. 3145) requires the Secretary of Labor
to prescribe reasonable regulations for contractors and subcontractors
engaged in construction work subject to Davis-Bacon labor standards.
While the federal contracting or assistance-administering agencies have
a primary responsibility for enforcement of these labor standards,
Reorganization Plan Number 14 of 1950 assigns to the Secretary of Labor
responsibility for developing government-wide policies, interpretations
and procedures to be observed by the contracting and assisting
agencies, in order to assure coordination of administration and
consistency of DBRA enforcement. 15 FR 3176, reprinted as amended in 5
U.S.C. app. 1.
The Copeland Act provision cited above specifically requires the
regulations to ``include a provision that each contractor and
subcontractor each week must furnish a statement on the wages paid each
employee during the prior week.'' This requirement is implemented by 29
CFR 3.3 and 3.4 and the standard Davis-Bacon contract clauses set forth
at 29 CFR 5.5. The regulation at 29 CFR 5.5 (a)(3)(ii)(A) (``Frequency
and method of submission'') requires contractors to submit weekly a
copy of all payrolls to the federal agency contracting for or financing
the construction project. If the agency is not a party to the contract,
the contractor will submit the payrolls to the applicant, sponsor, or
owner, as the case may be, for transmission to the contracting agency.
This provision requires that the payrolls submitted shall set out,
accurately and completely, the information that is required to be
maintained under 29 CFR 5.5(a)(3)(ii)(B) (``Information required'').
The information that must be included in the weekly transmittals
includes the name of each covered worker; each worker's correct
classification(s) of work actually performed; hourly rates of wages
paid (including rates of contributions or costs anticipated for bona
fide fringe benefits or cash equivalents thereof of the types described
in 40 U.S.C. 3141(2)(B) of the Davis-Bacon Act); daily and weekly
number of hours actually worked in total and on each covered contract;
deductions made; and actual wages paid. The weekly transmittals also
must include an individually identifying number for each employee
(e.g., the last four digits of the employee's Social Security number).
The provision at 29 CFR 5.5(a)(3)(ii)(B) also states what must not
be included in the weekly transmittal. The weekly transmittal must not
include workers' full social security numbers, last known addresses,
telephone numbers, and email addresses. That information must be
recorded and maintained by the contractors as part of the record-
keeping provisions in the regulations at 29 CFR 5.5(a)(3)(i)(B), but it
must not be included in the weekly transmittals.
The regulations at 29 CFR 5.5(a)(3)(ii)(C) and 29 CFR 3.3(b)
require each contractor to furnish weekly a signed ``Statement of
Compliance'' accompanying the payroll indicating the payrolls are
correct and complete and that each laborer or mechanic has been paid
not less than the proper Davis-Bacon Act prevailing wage rate for the
work performed.
The required weekly payroll information may be submitted in any
form desired. The information collection request that is the subject of
this notice, Optional Form WH-347, is designed to include fields for
all of the necessary information so as to satisfy
[[Page 70671]]
the regulatory and contractual requirements. The weekly submission of a
properly executed certification, with the prescribed language set forth
on page 2 of Optional Form WH-347, satisfies the requirement for
submission of the required ``Statement of Compliance.'' 29 CFR
5.5(a)(3)(ii)(C). Regulations 29 CFR 3.4(b) and 5.5(a)(3)(ii)(G)
require contractors to maintain these certified payrolls for three
years after all the work on the prime contract is completed.
The Department is now proposing revisions to form WH-347, to
simplify and clarify certain fields and to obtain more specific
information about fringe benefits. The revisions also provide for check
boxes and electronically fillable fields, which will provide for
efficiency, and update the instructions for form WH-347.
II. Review Focus: The Department of Labor is particularly
interested in comments which:
<bullet> Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency,
including whether the information will have practical utility;
<bullet> Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected;
<bullet> Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the
burden of the proposed collection of information, including the
validity of the methodology and assumptions used;
<bullet> Minimize the burden of the collection of information on
those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection
techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting
electronic submissions of responses.
III. Current Actions: The Department seeks approval to revise this
information collection to ensure effective administration of the
requirements governing the Davis-Bacon Certified Payroll.
Type of Review: Revision.
Agency: Wage and Hour Division.
Title: Davis-Bacon Certified Payroll.
OMB Control Number: 1235-0008.
Agency Numbers: Form WH-347.
Affected Public: Private Sector.
Total Estimated Respondents: 122,936.
Total Annual responses: 11,310,112.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 10,556,105.
Estimated Time per Response: 55 minutes to complete the WH-347 form
or its equivalent plus 1 minute for recordkeeping (total of 56 minutes
per form).
Frequency: Weekly, during the course of a covered construction
project.
Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): $0.
Total Burden Cost (operating/maintenance): $1,764,379.
Dated: August 23, 2024.
Daniel Navarrete,
Director, Division of Regulations, Legislation, and Interpretation.
[FR Doc. 2024-19482 Filed 8-29-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-27-P
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