"No work performed" weeks on certified payroll

Small contractors and subcontractors often have gaps: a week of rain, a wait for another trade, a month between phases. The question that follows every time: do I still owe a certified payroll for a week when nobody from my company worked on the project?

What the federal rule says

The Davis-Bacon contract clause in 29 CFR 5.5(a)(3)(ii)(A) says the contractor or subcontractor "must submit weekly, for each week in which any DBA- or Related Acts-covered work is performed, certified payrolls."

So the federal requirement is tied to weeks with covered work. The regulation does not describe a "no work" payroll at all.

That is not the end of the story, because the agency administering the contract (or the prime contractor, which is responsible for all subs' payrolls) may set its own reporting procedures. And agencies really do differ.

How agencies handle it: four real examples

Source	What it says
HUD contractor's guide (January 2012)	Submit a weekly certified payroll "beginning with the first week that your company works on the project and for every week afterward until your firm has completed its work," number them from #1 and mark the last one "Final." But: "If you number your payroll reports consecutively, you do not need to submit 'no work' payrolls!" It suggests a short note to the contract administrator for longer breaks.
Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet (no-work statement form)	"A certified payroll report is not required for a week in which a contractor performs no work." If a period of no work is expected, attach a completed "No Work Statement" to the last payroll, giving the dates.
Mississippi State Department of Health (certified payroll guidance)	"'No Work' payrolls must be submitted when no work is performed, and must be numbered in the same sequence as work payrolls." For a long gap, a "No Work" Statement of Compliance may show the estimated date work will resume.
Tennessee DOT Aeronautics (2021 update)	Weekly statements are due within seven days of the regular payment date "including periods when no work was performed," but "no work" statements are not required until the company starts work on the project or after its final payroll.

Same federal rule, four different practices. That is why the honest answer is: check your contract documents and ask the agency or prime contractor before your first gap, and get the answer in writing if you can.

How payroll numbering works

DOL's WH-347 instructions say: "Beginning with the number '1', each weekly certified payroll that a contractor or subcontractor submits for a project should be given a payroll number." Each company numbers its own payrolls for each project.

Numbering is what lets a reviewer see that nothing is missing. If payroll no. 7 is followed by no. 8 two weeks later, the reviewer can tell there was no gap in reporting, only a gap in work, which is the reasoning behind HUD's "number consecutively and you don't need no-work payrolls." Where an agency wants no-work reports, it typically wants them to take the next number in the sequence.

Whatever you do, keep the week ending date accurate on every report, so the dates show when work actually happened.

The final payroll check box

The Rev. January 2025 WH-347 has a check box at the top: Submission of final DBRA certified payroll form. DOL's instruction: "Mark the box to indicate that this submission is for the final week of work on the project for the contractor or subcontractor."

Use it once, on the payroll for your last week of work on the project. It tells the agency and the prime that no more payrolls are coming from you, which also answers the no-work question for every week after.

If you mark a payroll final and then get called back for punch-list work, tell the prime and the agency and continue the numbering from where you stopped. There is no DOL instruction for this case, so follow what the agency asks.

What a no-work report usually looks like

There is no federal no-work form. When an agency or prime asks for one, it is typically one of these:

1. A WH-347 with no worker rows. The header filled in (project, contract number, payroll number, business name, week ending date), "No work performed this week" written across page 1 or in Additional Remarks on page 2, and a signed Statement of Compliance.
2. The agency's own short statement. Kentucky's form, for example, has the contractor name, project, contract number, the no-work date range, and a signed statement that no workers have spent or are expected to spend time on the project in that period.

Some agencies accept one statement covering a planned gap of several weeks. Ask.

A practical approach

• At the preconstruction meeting or when you sign the subcontract, ask: "Do you want no-work reports, and how should they be numbered?"
• Record the answer in your project file.
• If no-work reports are required, file them weekly with the next payroll number, signed like any other payroll.
• If they are not required, keep your numbering consecutive by week worked, and send a short note to the prime or contract administrator for longer breaks.
• Mark the final payroll box only on your true last week.

Doing it in WH-347 Kit

Each week in the app has its own week ending date and payroll number. For a week with no work, you can create the week with no hours and add a "No work performed" remark, and the report prints with the header and Statement of Compliance. Whether you should file it depends on your agency, as above.