FOR DAVIS-BACON / PREVAILING-WAGE GOVERNMENT CONTRACTORS
Overtime isn’t just 1.5× the base rate.
When part of the required fringe is paid in cash instead of into a bona fide benefit plan, that cash portion has to get the overtime premium too — a rule most payroll software gets wrong by default. Enter one classification’s wage-determination figures and this week’s hours, and see the compliant total, the compliance gap if any, and what the common shortcut would have cost.
Classification and the wage determination
The required figures come from your project’s wage determination on SAM.gov, or the worker’s registered apprenticeship agreement if this row is an apprentice. This page never looks one up for you.
What was actually paid this week
Bona fide plan fringe is a contribution to a trustee or third-party plan (health, pension, apprenticeship) — it is excluded from the overtime regular rate. Cash-in-lieu-of-fringe is paid straight to the worker instead, and it must get the overtime premium.
Apprentice ratio check (optional)
Fill in all four counts to check whether this classification's apprentices exceed the approved ratio. Leave any blank to skip this check. Excess apprentices are owed the full journeyman rate, not the reduced apprentice rate — this reports the count and, if you provide the journeyman rate and their hours, the dollar gap.
This week’s compliance check
$—
shortfall vs. the required combined rate
Required rate (base + fringe)
Actual rate (base + all fringe)
Straight-time rate paid
Overtime rate paid (correct)
Cash wages this week
Bona fide fringe due
Total compensation
Cost of the common OT mistake
Required gross at prevailing wage
Total underpayment this week
Transparent arithmetic from your own inputs. Starting figures are an illustrative example, not a wage determination for any real project. Replace them with your own wage determination and time records.
What this checks
A Davis-Bacon or prevailing-wage wage determination sets a required base rate and a required fringe rate for each classification. A contractor can satisfy the fringe portion with a bona fide plan contribution, cash paid directly to the worker, or a mix of both — but only the cash portion changes the overtime math. Does overtime include fringe benefits on certified payroll? walks through the rule in search-query words.
It does not tell you which wage determination applies, whether your contract is covered, or what a worker's approved apprentice rate is. Those are facts from the contracting officer's wage determination and the registered apprenticeship agreement — entered here, never guessed.
Filing a whole crew every week? Use the WH-347 report builder: every worker, hours by day, gross, deductions and net, with a prevailing-wage check on each row.
Checking this by hand or in a spreadsheet instead? See where a hand calculation usually goes wrong — the overtime premium landing on the base rate only, with cash-in-lieu-of-fringe left at straight time even on overtime hours.
Common questions
Does overtime on a Davis-Bacon job include fringe benefits?
It depends on how the fringe is paid. A bona fide contribution to a health, pension, or apprenticeship plan is excluded from the overtime "regular rate" under 29 CFR 5.32 and 29 CFR 778.7, so it is owed at the same rate for every hour and never gets a time-and-a-half premium. Fringe paid directly to the worker in cash instead of into a plan is included in the regular rate, so it does get the overtime premium on hours over 40. Paying cash-in-lieu-of-fringe at straight time during overtime hours — which is what many payroll systems do by default — underpays every week it runs.
What counts as the "basic hourly rate" on a wage determination?
The wage determination for a classification states two numbers: a basic hourly rate and a fringe benefit rate. The contractor must provide at least their combined total, through any mix of cash wages, bona fide plan contributions, or cash paid in lieu of fringe. This calculator asks for both required figures and both actual figures so it can check the combined total and, separately, get the overtime math right — the two figures play different roles.
How does the apprentice-to-journeyman ratio work on certified payroll?
A registered apprenticeship program's wage determination sets an approved ratio, such as one apprentice per three journeymen, applied per classification at the site. Apprentices beyond that ratio are not entitled to the reduced apprentice rate — they must be paid the full journeyman prevailing wage for the hours they worked. This calculator reports how many apprentices exceed the approved ratio from the counts you enter; it does not look up the approved ratio for you, since that comes from the specific apprenticeship program's registration.
Does this generate my WH-347 certified payroll report?
Not the signed filing. This page checks one worker and one week; the WH-347 report builder fills the weekly payroll columns for every worker (hours by day, gross, deductions, net) with the same overtime rule and a prevailing-wage check on each row. It does not submit or sign anything on your behalf, and the Statement of Compliance stays yours to sign.
Does this tell me which wage determination applies to my project?
No. The applicable wage determination comes from the contracting officer and the project's own solicitation, published on SAM.gov. This calculator takes the required base and fringe rates as inputs you already looked up — it never guesses a rate or a classification for you.