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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 229 (Wednesday, November 27, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 93664-93665]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-27720]

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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB 
Review; Comment Request; Davis-Bacon Certified Payroll

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor (DOL) is submitting this Wage and Hour 
Division (WHD)-sponsored information collection request (ICR) to the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in 
accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). Public 
comments on the ICR are invited.

DATES: The OMB will consider all written comments that the agency 
receives on or before December 27, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of 
this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this information 
collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--Open for 
Public Comments'' or by using the search function.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nora Hernandez by telephone at 202-
693-8633, or by email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Copeland Act requires contractors and 
subcontractors performing work on federally financed or assisted 
construction contracts to furnish weekly a statement on the wages paid 
each covered worker during the prior week. See 40 U.S.C. 3145; 29 CFR 
3.3(b). This Copeland Act provision specifically requires the 
regulations to ``include a provision that each contractor and 
subcontractor each week must furnish a statement on the wages paid each 
worker 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 information 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. See 29 CFR 5.5(a)(3)(i)(B); 29 
CFR 5.5(a)(3)(ii)(B). 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). See 29 CFR 
5.5(a)(3)(ii)(B).
    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 covered worker 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 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).
    In addition to the weekly transmittal requirements, the regulations 
contain separate record retention requirements that require the 
retention of the weekly

[[Page 93665]]

transmittals themselves as well as a broader subset of documents and 
information. Regulations 29 CFR 3.4(b) and 5.5(a)(3)(ii)(G) require 
contractors to maintain copies of these transmitted weekly certified 
payrolls for three years after all the work on the prime contract is 
completed. The record retention provision at 29 CFR 5.5(a)(3)(i) 
requires contractors performing work on projects subject to the Davis-
Bacon and Related Acts (DBRA) to retain the address, telephone number, 
email address, and social security number of each covered worker, in 
addition to all of the worker-specific information that must be 
included on the weekly certified payroll. In addition, whenever a 
contractor seeks to provide a portion of its required fringe benefits 
though an unfunded plan (as described in 29 CFR 5.5(a)(1)(v)), the 
contractor must maintain records showing that the commitment to provide 
such benefits is enforceable, that the plan or program is financially 
responsible, that the plan or program has been communicated in writing 
to the laborers or mechanics affected, and the costs anticipated or the 
actual cost incurred in providing such benefits. See 29 CFR 
5.5(a)(3)(i)(C). Contractors employing apprentices or trainees under 
approved programs also must maintain written evidence of the 
registration of apprenticeship programs and certification of trainee 
programs, the registration of the apprentices and trainees, and the 
ratios and wage rates prescribed in the applicable programs. Id. Sec.  
5.5(a)(3)(i)(D). 29 CFR 5.5(a)(3)(iii) provides that contractors and 
subcontractors must maintain copies of covered contracts, subcontracts, 
and related documents.
    The Department periodically reviews its information collection 
requests to ensure that they are necessary and sufficient to 
effectively and efficiently fulfill the Department's statutory 
directive to oversee and enforce the Davis-Bacon Act. Substantive edits 
to the WH-347 form were last made in 2011. The Department reviewed the 
current form WH-347 and proposed several edits. For additional 
substantive information about this ICR, see the related notice 
published in the Federal Register on August 30, 2024 (89 FR 70670).
    Comments are invited on: (1) whether the collection of information 
is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the 
Department, including whether the information will have practical 
utility; (2) the accuracy of the agency's estimates of the burden and 
cost of the collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used; (3) ways to enhance the quality, 
utility and clarity of the information collection; and (4) ways to 
minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are 
to respond, including the use of automated collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology.
    This information collection is subject to the PRA. A Federal agency 
generally cannot conduct or sponsor a collection of information, and 
the public is generally not required to respond to an information 
collection, unless the OMB approves it and displays a currently valid 
OMB Control Number. In addition, notwithstanding any other provisions 
of law, no person shall generally be subject to penalty for failing to 
comply with a collection of information that does not display a valid 
OMB Control Number. See 5 CFR 1320.5(a) and 1320.6.
    DOL seeks PRA authorization for this information collection for 
three (3) years. OMB authorization for an ICR cannot be for more than 
three (3) years without renewal. The DOL notes that information 
collection requirements submitted to the OMB for existing ICRs receive 
a month-to-month extension while they undergo review.
    Agency: DOL-WHD.
    Title of Collection: Davis-Bacon Certified Payroll.
    OMB Control Number: 1235-0008.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits, Farms.
    Total Estimated Number of Respondent: 11,310,112.
    Total Estimated Number of Responses: 122,936.
    Total Estimated Annual Time Burden: 10,556,105 hours.
    Total Estimated Annual Other Costs Burden: $0.

(Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3507(a)(1)(D))

Nora Hernandez,
PRA Department Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2024-27720 Filed 11-26-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-27-P
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