California Labor Code 1771.4, explained
Section 1771.4 is the law behind the eCPR: you send your certified payroll to the Labor Commissioner electronically, on a 30 day clock, or face a daily penalty. Here it is subdivision by subdivision, from the official code, text checked October 16, 2026.
Last reviewed against the sources it cites
The short answer
Labor Code 1771.4 requires every contractor and subcontractor to file certified payroll with the Labor Commissioner electronically, at least once every 30 days while work continues and again within 30 days after the last day. The penalty is $100 a day, capped at $5,000 per project, and it cannot be levied until 14 days after the filing was due.
- Under Labor Code 1771.4(a)(3)(A), each contractor and subcontractor must furnish its certified payroll records directly to the Labor Commissioner, electronically, at least once every 30 days while work is performed and within 30 days after the final day of work.
- Subdivision (a)(3)(B) sets the penalty at $100 for each day in violation, not to exceed $5,000 per project.
- Under subdivision (a)(3)(C), the Labor Commissioner may not levy that penalty unless the records are still missing 14 days after the 30 day requirement.
- Subdivision (a)(3)(D) says the penalty may accrue only to the contractor or subcontractor that failed to furnish the records.
- The small project line is $25,000 or less for construction, alteration, demolition, installation, or repair, or $15,000 or less for maintenance, and DIR measures it on the entire contract between the awarding body and the prime contractor, per DIR's Public Works FAQ.
What section 1771.4 does
Under subdivision (a)(3), each contractor and subcontractor must furnish its certified payroll records directly to the Labor Commissioner, electronically (the eCPR), at least once every 30 days while work continues and within 30 days after the last day of work. The penalty is $100 for each day in violation, up to $5,000 per project, and the Labor Commissioner may not levy it until 14 days after the filing was due. Subdivisions (b) and (a)(4) carve out exempt and small projects.
What a payroll record contains is Labor Code 1776(a), covered in our Labor Code 1776 guide. Section 1771.4 is the separate duty to furnish those records.
The numbers at a glance
| Question | Answer | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Who files | Each contractor and subcontractor, directly to the Labor Commissioner, electronically | (a)(3)(A) |
| How often | At least every 30 days while work is performed, and within 30 days after the final day, or more often if your contract says so | (a)(3)(A)(i) |
| Penalty | $100 for each day in violation, up to $5,000 per project | (a)(3)(B) |
| Grace | No levy until 14 days after the 30 day requirement was missed | (a)(3)(C) |
| Small projects | $25,000 or less for construction, alteration, demolition, installation, or repair, or $15,000 or less for maintenance | (a)(4) |
Subdivision (a)(3)(A): the filing duty and the 30 day clock
Each contractor and subcontractor must furnish the section 1776 records directly to the Labor Commissioner. Filing with your general contractor, a union, or a labor compliance program does not replace yours, says DIR's Public Works FAQ, marked September 2024.
Clause (i): how often
The statute says at least monthly, or more often if your contract with the awarding body says so. It defines monthly in days: at least once every 30 days while work is being performed, and again within 30 days after the final day of work. DIR's FAQ adds that the best practice is to submit weekly or at the end of each payroll period.
Clause (ii): how
The filing must be electronic, in the manner the Labor Commissioner prescribes, on DIR's website. DIR's Public Works FAQ says the project must be registered with DIR using DIR Public Works website services before contractors and subcontractors can submit payroll for it. The awarding body registers it, and if it has not, DIR's FAQ says to ask it to. DIR's Support Center now calls this step Project Registration (formerly known as PWC-100). DIR also says that if you open the legacy PWC-100, PWCR, or eCPR applications, you are redirected to the new system. See how to submit certified payroll to DIR and Project Registration (formerly PWC-100) explained.
Subdivision (a)(3)(B): the $100 a day penalty and the $5,000 cap
A contractor or subcontractor that fails to furnish the records relating to its employees is subject to a penalty by the Labor Commissioner of $100 for each day in violation, not to exceed $5,000 per project.
- The cap is per project. Fifty days of violation at $100 a day reaches $5,000. A second late project has its own ceiling.
- It is per day, not per worker. Labor Code 1776(h) differs: $100 per calendar day for each worker (from January 1, 2027, SB 909 raises this to $140; see what SB 909 changes), with no cap in its text.
Compare the two in our penalty calculator and penalties guide. If a penalty has been assessed, see how to appeal.
Subdivision (a)(3)(C): the 14 day grace
The Labor Commissioner may not levy the penalty unless the records are still missing 14 days after the clause (i) requirement. The grace limits when a levy can start. It does not move your deadline. The text does not say whether the 14 days count toward the daily $100, and the DIR pages cited here do not address it, so file as soon as a record is late.
Subdivision (a)(3)(D): who pays
The penalty can accrue only to the actual contractor or subcontractor that failed to furnish the records. If your sub files late, the penalty is the sub's. If you file late, it is yours.
Subdivision (a)(4): the small project exemption
If a contractor is not registered under section 1725.5 and works on a project that needs no registration because of subdivision (f) of that section, it need not furnish records directly to the Labor Commissioner. It must keep the section 1776 records for at least three years after the work is completed. Subdivision (f) sets the lines in the table above: $25,000 or less, or $15,000 or less for maintenance. DIR's FAQ adds three points.
- DIR states the exemption more broadly than the statute: contractors who work only on small projects need not register or file eCPR for them.
- The line is the entire contract between the awarding body and the prime contractor. A small subcontract inside a bigger contract is not exempt.
- You must still keep certified payroll records and give them to the Labor Commissioner's Office on request.
More in the small project exemption guide.
Subdivisions (a)(1), (a)(2), and (a)(5): the awarding body and DIR
Under (a)(1), the call for bids and contract documents must say the project is subject to compliance monitoring and enforcement by DIR. Under (a)(2), the awarding body must post job site notices, or require the prime contractor to post them, as prescribed by regulation. Under (a)(5), DIR undertakes the activities it deems necessary to monitor and enforce prevailing wage compliance.
Subdivision (b): projects the Labor Commissioner can exempt
The Labor Commissioner may exempt a project from all or part of subdivision (a) in two cases. One is an awarding body that has enforced an approved labor compliance program on all its public works projects, with the exceptions the statute names, continuously since December 31, 2011. The other is an awarding body with a collective bargaining agreement that binds all contractors on the project and provides a way to resolve wage disputes.
The word "may" makes it discretionary. The list is on DIR's exemptions page, marked July 2016. Until further notice, it exempts projects monitored and enforced by the legacy labor compliance programs of Caltrans, the City of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Unified School District, and the County of Sacramento, and projects covered by qualifying project labor agreements. If your project is on neither that list nor the small project line, DIR's FAQ says to file. Subdivision (b) reaches only subdivision (a), so the section 1776 records duty stays. See who is exempt.
Subdivisions (c) and (d): effective dates
Subdivision (c) limits the bid document duty in (a)(1) to contracts awarded on or after January 1, 2015. Subdivision (d) applies the filing duty in (a)(3) to all public work contracts, new or ongoing, on or after January 1, 2016. The award date alone no longer exempts a job.
Subdivision (e): the payroll database
Subdivision (e) required DIR to build, by July 1, 2024, an online database of the eCPRs filed under this section. Only multiemployer Taft-Hartley trust funds and joint labor-management committees established under federal law can access it, and it holds only the nonredacted information section 1776(e) lets them receive.
If the 30 day clock is what slips
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. Try it with the first filing free.
Questions
What does Labor Code 1771.4 require?
What is the penalty for filing an eCPR late?
Is the 14 day grace period an extension?
Does a small project need an eCPR?
Is Labor Code 1771.4 the same as 1776?
Sources
Every figure on this page links to its source where it first appears. The full list, in order:
- official code leginfo.legislature.ca.gov
- $25,000 or less leginfo.legislature.ca.gov
- DIR's Public Works FAQ dir.ca.gov
- Labor Code 1776(a) leginfo.legislature.ca.gov
- Support Center dir.ca.gov
- you are redirected to the new system dir.ca.gov
- SB 909 leginfo.legislature.ca.gov
- DIR's exemptions page dir.ca.gov
- WH-347 dol.gov