Which California agencies have a DIR-approved labor compliance program

What an approved program does and does not do

• What it is. The statute defines a labor compliance program as one approved by the Director of Industrial Relations (Labor Code 1771.5(c)), and DIR describes the awarding body programs it approves as ones that monitor and enforce prevailing wage requirements on public works projects (DIR labor compliance programs page). By statute a program includes requirements that contractors and subcontractors maintain and furnish a certified copy of each weekly payroll containing a statement of compliance signed under penalty of perjury, that the awarding body review and, if appropriate, audit payroll records, and that it withhold contract payments when payroll records are delinquent or inadequate (Labor Code 1771.5(b)).
• Who needs one. DIR says that as of 2016 labor compliance programs were required only for public works projects funded by Proposition 84 and certain older projects under a handful of other statutes, and that DIR also oversees four legacy programs approved before 2000 (DIR labor compliance programs page).
• What it can exempt. DIR says projects under a legacy program may be exempted from furnishing certified payroll records directly to the Labor Commissioner, and its exemptions page names the four. The statute lets the Labor Commissioner exempt a project when the awarding body has enforced an approved program on all public works projects under its authority, except those deemed exempt under subdivision (a) of Labor Code 1771.5, continuously since December 31, 2011 (Labor Code 1771.4(b)(1)). The statute also lets the Labor Commissioner exempt a project when the awarding body has entered into a collective bargaining agreement that binds all contractors performing work on the project and includes a mechanism for resolving disputes about the payment of wages (Labor Code 1771.4(b)(2)). DIR's list of approved labor compliance programs describes its awarding body programs as approved for current projects funded by Proposition 84 and certain pre-2012 projects that remain subject to an LCP requirement, and the four legacy programs as approved for all of their projects.
• Notes DIR adds to entries. DIR's list of approved labor compliance programs adds a note to 5 entries (City of San Diego, County of Ventura Dept of Public Works and County Watershed, Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, San Mateo County Transit District & Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board (SamTrans) and University of California): "Was approved for use on own CMU projects, Jan. 2012-June 2014". It does not say what CMU means or whether the approval still covers current projects, so ask the awarding body before you assume the program applies to your project. The four legacy entries carry a different DIR note, on the status of their exemption application.
• What it does not do. DIR's certified payroll FAQ asks whether you still submit to DIR when you submit to a union, the prime contractor, the awarding body or a labor compliance program, and answers yes. DIR's exemption list names none of the other 191 entries.
• What is not on the list. DIR says it does not approve or regulate any other labor compliance programs, compliance monitoring programs or consultants. Payroll portals are not programs: LCPtracker, for example, describes itself as labor compliance and certified payroll software. See which portal each agency uses.

Who is on the list

By the words in their names, about 124 of the 195 entries are reclamation districts, water, sanitation and utility districts, or school districts and offices of education. The table groups programs by the words in each name, so the groups are a guide and not DIR's own classification:

91 of the 195 entries show an approval date of September 1, 2011. The newest approval is San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District, April 27, 2026. 160 entries say they use an outside contract administrator (counting both spellings on DIR's list, "contract administrator" and "contractor administrator"), so ask the awarding body where payroll goes.

Every program on DIR's list

Click a column heading to sort. The last column counts projects in WellStanding's collection of DIR project registration data, as of October 18, 2026 (registrations from June 26, 2026 on). Collection paused from July 7 to September 3, 2026, so the counts are a floor. A blank means we found no registry body under that name, not zero projects.

How the list is joined to our data

• Source. DIR's list of approved labor compliance programs, copied on October 23, 2026. Contact names, phone numbers and street addresses are not kept.
• Matching. A project counts toward a program when its awarding body has the same name, is a department of the same body (for example a public works department), is a University of California or California State University campus, or is a hand-checked alternate spelling. Anything less certain is left out.
• Coverage. As of October 18, 2026, 66 of the 195 programs have at least one project in WellStanding's collection of DIR project registration data (collection paused from July 7 to September 3, 2026). The collection starts on June 26, 2026 and has a gap, so it understates bodies.

Your filing, whichever body you work for

WellStanding prepares the WH-347 and the eCPR from the payroll export you already run, and a person reviews every filing. You review the finished filing and sign the certification in one step, and nothing is filed until you have signed. The certification is always yours; we never sign for you. The reason the certification is yours is in Labor Code 1776(a) and 8 CCR 16401.

Download the list: california-labor-compliance-programs.csv. Cite as: WellStanding, DIR-approved labor compliance programs, DIR data as of October 22, 2026, https://wellstanding.com/data/california-labor-compliance-programs/.

Questions