One worker, two classifications on WH-347

Small crews wear several hats. A laborer runs a mini-excavator on Tuesday; a carpenter spends a day on concrete forms. On a Davis-Bacon job, each kind of work may carry a different rate in the wage determination, and the certified payroll has to show it.

The rule

The contract clause in 29 CFR 5.5(a)(1)(i) says workers must be paid the wage rate and fringe benefits in the wage determination "for the classification(s) of work actually performed," and:

Laborers or mechanics performing work in more than one classification may be compensated at the rate specified for each classification for the time actually worked therein: Provided, That the employer's payroll records accurately set forth the time spent in each classification in which work is performed.

DOL's WH-347 instructions add the other side of that bargain: "If the contractor did not maintain an accurate breakdown of hours worked by a worker in each labor classification, the worker must be paid for all hours worked using the highest applicable prevailing wage rate (basic hourly rate and fringe benefits)."

So you have two options:

1. Track hours by classification and pay each block of hours at its own rate, or
2. Pay every hour at the highest applicable rate, basic and fringe.

How to show it on the WH-347

DOL's instructions for column 1A: "If a worker works in more than one labor classification during the course of the week, the contractor should show the number of hours the worker worked in each classification using separate rows. In such circumstances, the same worker entry number should be used on each row associated with the worker."

In practice:

Column	Row 1 (first classification)	Row 2 (second classification)
1A entry no.	3	3 (same)
1B-1E name and ID	Worker's name and ID	Same worker
2 J/RA	J	J
3 classification	Laborer	Power equipment operator
4 hours each day	Hours in that classification only	Hours in that classification only
5 total hours	Total for row 1	Total for row 2
6A rates	Laborer ST / OT rate	Operator ST / OT rate
6B / 6C	Fringe for row 1 hours	Fringe for row 2 hours
7A gross (this project)	Row 1 earnings	Row 2 earnings
7B, 8, 9 (all work)	Shown once for the worker	Shown once for the worker

Columns 7B, 8 and 9 are "for all work," so they describe the worker's whole week, not a classification. DOL's own online WH-347 form shows them once per worker, spanning that worker's rows. On a paper form, write them on the worker's first row and leave them blank on the second, so nobody adds them twice.

Keep a worker's rows together, on the same page. Each row takes one of the eight row slots on page 1.

Worked example

Wage determination (illustrative): Laborer $24.00 + $8.00; Power equipment operator $34.00 + $12.00. Worker no. 3 works 44 hours: Monday to Thursday as a laborer (8 hours a day, 32 hours), Friday and Saturday on the excavator (12 hours). The contract is covered by the overtime law, so 4 hours are overtime. The contractor pays the fringe as cash in lieu.

The overtime here was worked on Saturday, on the excavator, so it is shown in the operator row at the operator's rate.

Row	ST hours	OT hours	6A ST / OT	7A	6C
Laborer	32	0	24.00 / 36.00	768.00	32 × 8.00 = 256.00
Operator	8	4	34.00 / 51.00	272.00 + 204.00 = 476.00	12 × 12.00 = 144.00
Worker total	40	4		1,244.00	400.00

7B is 1,244.00 if the worker had no other work that week. Net pay (column 9) is what was actually paid: 1,244.00 + 400.00 in cash in lieu, minus actual deductions.

Had the contractor not tracked the split, all 44 hours would be owed at the operator's $34.00 + $12.00.

Overtime across two classifications

When overtime hours fall in a week with two rates, DOL's overtime guidance shows two methods: a weighted average regular rate for the week, or the rate in effect when the overtime hours were worked. In DOL's example (painter $33.00, electrician $35.00, 48 hours with 8 overtime), the weighted method gives an overtime premium of $135.04 and the rate-in-effect method gives $140.00. Showing OT hours in the row of the classification actually worked, at 1.5 times that row's rate, corresponds to the rate-in-effect method. See overtime on certified payroll.

When the work is not in the wage determination

Column 3 must name a classification from the wage determination. If none fits the work, the WH-347 instructions say to "contact the Contracting Officer or Agency representative immediately." The contract clause in 29 CFR 5.5(a)(1)(iii) sets out the conformance process: the contracting officer must require that any class of laborers or mechanics not listed in the wage determination be classified in conformance with it. A new classification is appropriate only when:

1. the work is not performed by a classification already in the wage determination,
2. the classification is used in the area by the construction industry, and
3. the proposed rate, including fringe, bears a reasonable relationship to the rates in the determination.

Conformance may not be used to split or subdivide classifications that are listed. Once WHD approves or sets the rate, it must be paid to all workers in that classification from the first day they performed that work, and the determination must be given to affected workers or posted with the wage determination.

Tips

• Have foremen record classification on daily time sheets, not just hours. The accurate breakdown is what lets you use two rates.
• Use the classification names exactly as they appear in the wage determination.
• Do not use a cheaper classification for work that the determination lists elsewhere; the Statement of Compliance (box 3) certifies that each classification is the work the worker actually performed.

In WH-347 Kit a worker can have several classification rows in the same week; the app keeps them together on one page, repeats the entry number, and prints 7B, 8 and 9 once on the worker's first row.