L&I Suspends Certified Payroll Requirements After Contractors Raise Concerns
On March 31 L&I emailed an announcement to contractors requiring that firms receiving a certified payroll request should use a specific new form and report private wage information. L&I indicated that improper forms had frequently been filed and that it needs the private wage information to determine overtime rates. The department intended that these new changes were to become effective April 1.
Several AGC members contacted Government Affairs Director Rick Slunaker who immediately protested L&Is action. AGC maintains that L&I may not have the legal authority to require the reporting of private wage information and that L&I should have allowed for more lead time for contractors to prepare. The Department agreed to suspend both the requirement to report this information as well as the use of the new form at least until the legal issues have been addressed.
L&I posted a follow-up on its website to clarify what contractors who receive a certified payroll request must do in the interim. Below is a text of that message:
In order to best serve all our stakeholders the department is carefully evaluating the substantive feedback received regarding the recent (April 1 2009) e-mail message on the certified payroll forms. Pending the evaluation no information on private work needs to be included nor must any particular form be used so long as the payroll information required in WAC 296-127-320 is fully reported and a legally sufficient Washington State affirmation is used. Once we have completed the evaluation we will post updated instructions at this location. Thank you for your patience during this process.
AGC appreciates L&Is willingness to reconsider the matter and thanks the members who alerted Government Affairs staff about the April 1 L&I email. By doing so they allowed AGC to take action on behalf of the contracting community. For questions or comments about this issue contact Rick Slunaker at 360-352-5000.