Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Prevailing Wage Weekly Requirements in Hawaii

Weekly filing of certified payrolls required on public works construction projects
Hawaii's prevailing wage law, Wages and Hours of Employees on Public Works, Chapter 104, Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS), sometimes referred to as "Little Davis-Bacon" is similar to the federal Davis-Bacon law but different in some regards as well.    Both Hawaii Chapter 104, HRS and the Davis Bacon law  require certified payrolls to be submitted to the contracting agency on a weekly basis.  See Section 104-3(a), HRS, 29 CFR 5.5(a)(3)(ii)(A).  Certified payrolls must report the actual amount paid to the laborers and mechanics for the hours worked.

 Weekly payment required to laborers and mechanics on public works construction projects
All labors and mechanics working on the construction subject to Chapter 104, HRS, must be paid weekly. The law goes on to require the payment be within five working days of the end of the work week.  See Section 104-2(d) , HRS, 40 USC 3142(c)(1).     The pay period of one work week is determined by the employer and can be any set seven consecutive days.  Working days are considered Monday through Friday, so when counting five days from the end of the pay period, Saturdays, Sundays and State holidays are not counted. See Hawaii Administrative Rule 12-22-13.

Example how certified payrolls should be filed to be timely
An employer sets the work week from Sunday to Saturday, payment is due to laborers and mechanics the following Friday.  Certified payrolls should be filed on the same Friday as the payments are due to the employees. In essence it is a public pay statement.

If an employer has a work week from Monday to Sunday, payment is still due on Friday, five working days after the end of the weekly pay period.

If an employer has a work week from Tuesday to Monday, payment is due the following Monday, five working days after the end of the work week.  Certified payrolls should be submitted by the following Monday as well.

General contractor accommodations
For enforcement purposes general contractors may submit certified payrolls to the contracting agency seven days after the weekly paydate to allow the general to collect and review certified payrolls of the subcontractors, this type of weekly schedule will look like this:


 
   Week Ending:
 
         Pay Date
 
                                                              Remarks
 
         April 2
 
 
 
Work begins on the project during this week.
 
         April 9
 
Friday, April 8
 
(1)   Pay date for work performed in the previous week ending April 2.
(2)  Subs submit certified payrolls to General for work performed week ending April 2
(3)  Work is also performed during this week.
 
        April 16
 
Friday, April 15
 
(1)   Pay date for work performed in the previous week ending April 9.
(2a)  Due date for all certified payrolls to be submitted to contracting  agency  from the prime with all subcontractors for work performed during the week ending April 2.
(2b)  Subs submit certified payrolls to General for work performed week ending April 9
(3)   Work is also performed during this week.
 
        April 23
 
   Friday, April 22
 
(1)   Pay date for work performed in the previous week ending April 16.
(2) a  Due date for all certified payrolls to be submitted to contracting agency from the prime with all subcontractors for work performed during the week ending April 9.
(2) b  Subs submit certified payrolls to General for work performed week ending April 16


Different requirements then general rule.
Note that the general rule for payment to employees is at least twice a month.  See Section 388-2. HRS.

For more information
See Wage Standards Division Prevailing Wages on Public Works page.
See  Fact sheet 66 provides general information for the Davis-Bacon law.