Prevailing Wage Software for Contractors Who'd Rather Not Do the Math Twice
The best certified payroll software for prevailing wage calculates base wage plus fringe for every classification, applies the correct wage determination to each project, and builds the WH-347 straight from payroll. eBacon does all three automatically for open-shop and merit-shop contractors, so the rate on the check matches the rate on the report.
eBacon assigns the wage determination to each project and calculates the prevailing wage rate for every classification automatically, so payroll runs on the rate the contract actually requires, not the one somebody typed into a spreadsheet in March.
Prevailing wage is one piece of certified payroll compliance. See how eBacon handles the whole thing.
What is prevailing wage?
Prevailing wage is the minimum hourly pay, made up of a base wage plus a fringe benefit rate, that contractors must pay each worker on public and government-funded construction projects under the Davis-Bacon Act and state prevailing wage laws. Rates are set by worker classification and locality in a wage determination published by the U.S. Department of Labor or a state labor agency.
So it's two numbers, not one. That's where most of the math gets done twice. Fringe can go to the worker as cash on the check or into a bona fide fringe benefit plan, and that choice changes what you pay in payroll taxes and insurance. See how eBacon handles fringe.

What happens if you get prevailing wage wrong?
An underpaid worker is owed back wages, even when the mistake was an honest one, and the agency can withhold payments on your contract until it's fixed. Contractors who disregard Davis-Bacon obligations can be debarred from federal work for up to three years. Prevailing wage laws have carried those consequences since 1931, and the paperwork has only gotten longer.
eBacon is built for open-shop and merit-shop contractors who want the rate right the first time, so there's nothing to fix later.



What is eBacon?

eBacon tracks wage determinations for you and applies the right one to each project, including modifications that apply to your contract. You set up the project once, and every classification on that job pays from the determination it's tied to.
That matters because the newest determination isn't always the one you owe. The determination in your contract controls, and a payroll manager juggling six jobs shouldn't have to keep that straight from memory.
eBacon lets workers pick their classification at clock-in and recalculates pay automatically when they switch mid-shift. A laborer who runs equipment after lunch gets paid both rates correctly, and nobody spends Friday rebuilding the timesheet by hand.

Bacon generates the WH-347 and state certified payroll reports directly from payroll data, formatted and ready to submit when payroll runs. The numbers on the report are the numbers on the check, because they come from the same place.
eBacon captures time from desktop, mobile web, mobile app, text message, manager punches, or a physical time clock, and pushes it straight into prevailing wage payroll without a paper timesheet in between. Pick whatever actually works on your job site. Time is recorded down to the second, which is more precision than most timesheets have ever seen.
eBacon keeps your payroll and certified payroll history on file for as long as you're a client, and you can export it any time. Davis-Bacon requires contractors to keep payroll records for three years after a project is complete, so when an auditor asks for three years back, you pull a report instead of a filing cabinet.

Do prevailing wage rules change by state?
Yes. Many states have their own prevailing wage laws, with their own rates, thresholds, and report formats, and they don't always match federal Davis-Bacon rules. eBacon keeps track of them so you don't have to.What should certified payroll software do for prevailing wage work?
It should calculate the full prevailing wage rate for every classification, apply the wage determination tied to each contract, handle mid-shift classification changes, and generate certified payroll reports from the same data that ran payroll. If any of those steps happens in a spreadsheet, that's where the errors live.
eBacon is built for open-shop and merit-shop contractors with 15 to 500 employees who run prevailing wage jobs regularly. If you have fewer than 15 employees and only take an occasional public job, a general payroll service paired with a standalone certified payroll reporting tool may be the simpler fit.
Prevailing Wage FAQs
Answer: Usually not. Prevailing wage applies to public works and government-funded construction, but many states extend it to private projects that receive public money, such as subsidies, tax credits, or below-market financing. Check the funding sources on every bid, because a private job can become a prevailing wage job the moment public dollars touch it.
Answer: Yes. You can meet the fringe requirement with any combination of cash and contributions to a bona fide benefit plan, as long as the total covers the fringe rate on the wage determination. eBacon tracks the split for each worker and shows it on the certified payroll report, so the cash and plan portions always add up.
Answer: Overtime is paid at one and a half times the base prevailing wage rate for hours over 40 in a workweek. The fringe portion does not get multiplied; it is paid at the straight-time rate for every hour worked. eBacon calculates both automatically, so overtime on a public job doesn't mean overpaying fringe or underpaying base.
Answer: You owe the worker the difference, and you correct the certified payroll for that period. eBacon processes wage restitution as a payroll run, calculating what each worker is owed and producing corrected reports, so fixing a past underpayment takes minutes instead of a week of spreadsheets and amended forms.
Answer: Yes. eBacon's General Ledger Integration sends payroll and job cost data to the accounting system you already use, so prevailing wage payroll doesn't have to be re-entered by hand. Your accountant gets clean entries by job, and your payroll team stops being the human copy-and-paste function between two systems.