Caltrans certified payroll in LCPtracker: the weekly rules, and whether you also file with DIR

What Caltrans requires in LCPtracker

The pre-job checklist, revised January 2026, says all labor compliance documents must be submitted through LCPtracker, complete and accurate, with the correct Caltrans contract number. Section 7-1.02K(3) of Caltrans' 2025 Standard Specifications agrees: submit certified payroll records electronically using the Department's contracted system, LCPtracker Pro. This page cites the 2025 Edition, and a contract written under an earlier edition may differ, so check yours. The checklist sets these weekly rules:

• Weekly, from everyone. Certified payrolls go in weekly from all contractors, subcontractors, and owner-operators.
• Your prime sees it first. The prime approver approves every subcontractor payroll before Caltrans can review it.
• The 15th backstop. Payrolls and other documents not previously submitted are due on or before the 15th of the month for the previous month's work.
• Idle weeks count. Submit a No Work Certification for each week after your initial work week through the end of the project. Owner-operators included.
• Keep the records. Preserve payroll records for three years after the final voucher.

Before your first payroll

1. Get your LCPtracker account. The checklist says the prime completes a Contractor Set-Up Form and sets up accounts for all subcontractors. The Standard Specifications also point to the LCPtracker Vendor Access Request, Caltrans form CEM-2500. A Caltrans directive says district labor compliance staff give the contractor that form after contract approval. Ask your prime which route applies.
2. Upload the fringe benefit statement. Caltrans form CEM-2501 must be completed, signed, and uploaded before LCPtracker permits a payroll submission. It goes in with the first payroll, again whenever fringe benefits or subsistence amounts change, and must be specific to the contract. See our fringe benefit statement guide.
3. Handle apprentices. For apprenticeable crafts, the checklist has you submit the DAS 140 to the apprenticeship committee and through LCPtracker before work starts, upload proof of registration with the first payroll that shows an apprentice, and send training fees to a state-approved program or the California Apprenticeship Council, identified on the fringe statement. The federal-aid LCPtracker checklist also names the DAS 142 and asks for a copy to Caltrans. See DAS 140 and DAS 142.
4. Back up any "other" deduction. Upload the document that confirms it with the first payroll on which it appears.

What each weekly payroll has to show

Every submission must include all the information Labor Code section 1776 requires. The checklist adds:

• A classification and group number on every payroll, such as Laborer-Group 1. If the classification is missing or wrong, Caltrans sets the wage rate from the duties performed.
• Gross and net wages shown clearly, fringe benefits included.
• Deductions marked "other" designated that way in LCPtracker or on the electronic Statement of Compliance.
• Itemized wage statements, meaning check stubs, for every employee.

Each payroll must also carry a Statement of Compliance signed under penalty of perjury, per the specifications. That declaration is yours to sign. WellStanding prepares and files; it does not certify or sign for you. See who signs certified payroll.

What a late or missing payroll costs

The checklist says that when the prime fails to submit the required documents through LCPtracker, Caltrans withholds up to 10 percent of the progress payment for the month, with a $1,000 minimum and a $10,000 maximum. The specifications set the trigger: no adequate record by the month's 15th day for the period ending on or before the 1st of that month. The 10 percent is figured on the monthly progress estimate, exclusive of mobilization.

Caltrans' labor compliance manual adds that the withhold is taken once per period, does not compound, and is released on the next progress payment after the problem is corrected. Minor B and emergency contracts, which Caltrans pays in arrears, lose all payments due until the prime complies, per the checklist.

The table is arithmetic on the stated rule, not a Caltrans schedule. The money comes out of the prime's payment, and the prime approves your payroll, so your prime has money riding on it.

Do you also file with DIR?

On the Caltrans job itself, usually not. The general rule is in Labor Code section 1771.4(a)(3): each contractor and subcontractor furnishes its payroll records directly to the Labor Commissioner, electronically, on DIR's website. Section 1771.4(b)(1) lets the Labor Commissioner exempt a project when its awarding body has enforced an approved labor compliance program on all its public works projects, small ones aside, continuously since December 31, 2011.

Caltrans runs one of four legacy programs that DIR oversees. DIR's exemptions page says that, until further notice, projects monitored and enforced by it are exempt, and DIR's certified payroll FAQ repeats the exemption. DIR's Labor Compliance Programs page, revised May 7, 2026, still lists Caltrans among the four. Three limits apply:

• It covers four programs, not every portal. The same FAQ says sending payroll to a union, a prime contractor, an awarding body, or a Labor Compliance Program does not satisfy the DIR requirement. A city, county, or district job generally needs the DIR filing even when it uses LCPtracker. See LCPtracker vs DIR eCPR.
• DIR rules still reach you. The checklist says all contractors and subcontractors must comply with DIR registration requirements, and the DAS 140 is a DIR Division of Apprenticeship Standards form. See DIR contractor registration.
• Confirm Caltrans monitors your project. The prime signs the pre-job checklist for your contract. Ask for a copy, and if you have none, do not assume the exemption.

When your Caltrans job is not in LCPtracker

Caltrans' labor compliance page also lists a File Transfer site for certified payroll, and its quick guide says the process is separate from projects that use LCPtracker Pro.

The older-style state contract checklist, revised July 2025, describes that route. Payrolls go in as unmodifiable PDFs after the prime and each subcontractor complete a Contractor's Acknowledgement Form, with Caltrans form CEM-2503, the Statement of Compliance, due with each weekly payroll. The weekly rule, the 15th backstop, and the 10 percent withhold appear in both. To tell which you have, check the title on page one: the LCPtracker version says "LCPtracker Project."

Where WellStanding fits

If you also work for cities, counties, school districts, or other agencies outside the four legacy programs, the direct DIR filing applies to those jobs in full. From your own payroll export we prepare and file that DIR eCPR, and we prepare the DAS 140 and DAS 142. A person reviews every filing, and you sign the certification. On a Caltrans job, tell us during setup and we confirm where each filing goes. We open with a first filing free. See also our Caltrans requirements page.

Questions