SPRINGFIELD – It will soon be five years since the Illinois Department of Labor (IDOL) began accepting certified payrolls from contractors who perform construction work on public works projects. Public works projects include any construction work funded in whole, or in part, by state or local public tax dollars.
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Certified payrolls are a record of wages paid to workers on these projects and are required by the Prevailing Wage Act to include such things as the workers name, classification, trade, hourly wage rate, and hours worked each week on the public works project and any other project.
“Prevailing wage certified payroll filings help ensure that workers on government-funded projects are paid the correct wages and benefits for their work,” said Illinois Department of Labor Director Jane Flanagan. “Illinois’ public certified transcript of payroll portal provides transparency in the industry, helps maintain accountability among contractors that have won bids for their work, and allows the Department to report aggregate data on public works construction projects.”
In 2018, the Illinois General Assembly passed legislation to make changes to the certified payroll portion of the Prevailing Wage Act. When Governor Pritzker took office in 2019, SB 203 was signed into law, becoming PA 100-1177. Under the law, IDOL was charged with maintaining an online portal where all prevailing wage construction contractors file their certified payrolls with the department, otherwise known as Certified Transcript of Payroll portal. Prior to PA 100-1177, certified payrolls were collected by the public body in charge of the project.
To encourage compliance with the Prevailing Wage Act, the department is reminding construction contractors on public works projects to file their certified payrolls by the 15th of every month for the prior calendar month.
Since the department began accepting certified payrolls in 2020, there have been nearly 1.5 million submissions to the portal.
Additional information about certified transcript of payroll, and all training materials, can be found here.
