How to amend a certified payroll report in California

You cannot edit or delete a certified payroll record once you submit it to DIR. To fix a mistake, you resubmit the eCPR for that same workweek, and the corrected version replaces the original, per DIR's own eCPR FAQ. Change the wrong details on that resubmission and you have described a different payroll, not fixed this one. Here is the process, and what to do when the real problem is a week with no work, or your own company information.

The short version

DIR's eCPR FAQ answers this directly: "If you would like to edit an eCPR, please resubmit an eCPR for the workweek to be corrected and your 'amended' eCPR will replace the original payroll submission" (DIR eCPR FAQ). There is no in-place edit, and the same FAQ is explicit that there is no delete function either: "There is no way to delete a payroll report once it has been submitted." Three different problems get three different fixes:

Wrong hours, rate, classification, or deductions in a filed week. Resubmit the eCPR for that week ending date. The new submission replaces the old one.
A week was filed as worked but no work happened. Do not resubmit a corrected payroll. File a Statement of Non-Performance for that week ending date instead.
Your company details are wrong (address, FEIN record, and similar). This is not a payroll resubmission at all. It goes through DIR support by email.

What "amend" means inside the eCPR system

The eCPR XML schema carries a payroll number and an amendment number as their own fields, and DIR fills both in for you. Its own eCPR XML guidelines say to leave them empty: "The values for CPR:payrollNum and CPR:amendmentNum elements are automatically assigned by the eCPR system and must be empty." You never write the number yourself. What you control is which workweek you refile and what the corrected numbers say.

That resubmission is not a redline on the old filing. It is a complete, freshly certified record for that week, carrying its own declaration under penalty of perjury that the information is true and that you have complied with the prevailing wage sections, the same requirement as the original (Labor Code 1776(a)). Correcting a mistake does not lower the bar on the correction.

Step by step: correcting a submitted eCPR

Identify the exact week ending date. The amendment attaches to a specific workweek, not the project as a whole.
Get the correct numbers from your actual payroll records. Not memory, not the GC's portal. Pull hours, rate, classification, and deductions from the source you would produce for a records request.
Keep the payroll's identity fixed. The week ending date, the project, and your registration have to point at the same payroll you are correcting, or you have described a different filing. Our eCPR XML upload errors guide lists the fields we recommend keeping identical, so the resubmission reads as the amendment you intend rather than a separate filing.
Rebuild the full record for that week and resubmit it. Through the iForm or an XML upload, whichever path you used the first time, with every worker who belongs on that week's payroll, not only the one row that was wrong.
Review and sign again. The perjury declaration attaches to the corrected filing exactly as it did to the first one. See how to submit certified payroll to DIR for the review and sign flow.
Save the new confirmation, and the print of your unredacted eCPR. DIR lets you view and print an unredacted copy only "immediately before submitting" (DIR eCPR FAQ). Keep it alongside the original filing. If a records request or an audit later asks what changed and when, that pair is your answer.

If the mistake is a week with no work

Do not resubmit a corrected payroll for a week where no work actually happened. DIR's FAQ gives the fix: "If payroll was submitted for a week that no work was performed, you may submit a Statement of Non-Performance for that week ending date, and that Statement of Non-Performance will amend the previously submitted certified payroll report" (DIR eCPR FAQ). The Statement of Non-Performance itself does the amending. There is no worker data to correct, only a flag to set.

If the mistake is in your company information

An address or a workers' compensation detail is not a payroll field, so resubmitting a workweek will not fix it. DIR's FAQ routes this one differently: "Send an email to publicworks@dir.ca.gov with your FEIN and information that needs to be changed or updated" (DIR eCPR FAQ). Keep that email and DIR's reply with your records.

Why speed still matters after you have already filed

A late original filing and a late correction are not the same exposure, but a slow correction has its own teeth. Under 8 CCR 16463(d)(3), a payroll record counts as inadequate when it stays "uncorrected for one payroll period after the Labor Commissioner has given the contractor or subcontractor notice of inaccuracies detected by audit or record review." Under 8 CCR 16463(e), an inadequate record gives the Labor Commissioner authority to require the Awarding Body to withhold contract payments: "The Labor Commissioner may require the Awarding Body to withhold contract payments when payroll records are delinquent or inadequate." Subdivision (d)(3) gives you one narrow way to avoid that outcome: "prompt correction will stop any duty to withhold if such inaccuracies do not amount to one (1) percent of the entire Certified Weekly Payroll in dollar value and do not affect more than half the persons listed as workers employed on that Certified Weekly Payroll." Both thresholds have to hold at once, and missing the window leaves the Labor Commissioner's withholding authority under (e) in place either way. Full picture: certified payroll penalties in California, and the penalty calculator.

If it is a WH-347, not an eCPR

The mechanic above is specific to the DIR eCPR. The federal WH-347 is a different filing under the Copeland Act and 29 CFR 5.5(a)(3)(ii), submitted up your contracting chain, and it carries no system-assigned payroll or amendment number. A federal correction runs through the contracting agency or your prime, with its own signed Statement of Compliance. On a project that owes both filings, correct both and keep the hours and wages consistent between them. More: WH-347 vs eCPR.

Which fix applies to which mistake

What is actually wrong	What to do
Hours, rate, classification, or deductions for a worker in a week you already filed	Resubmit the full eCPR for that week ending date
A week was reported as worked, but no work happened on the project that week	File a Statement of Non-Performance for that week ending date
Your company address, FEIN record, or similar company-level detail	Email publicworks@dir.ca.gov with your FEIN and the correction
The week ending date, project, or registration on a submission is itself wrong	Confirm the correct identity first. Changing these on resubmission describes a different payroll instead of amending this one
An error on a federal WH-347	Correct it with the contracting agency or your prime, and reconcile the same figures on your eCPR if the project owes both

What we do with a correction

We build the corrected eCPR, and the corrected WH-347 where the project needs one, from your payroll export, checked against DIR's schema before anything is sent. A person reviews it against the project and the wage determination, and you do the review and sign, since the declaration under penalty of perjury is yours either way. The first filing is free, including a first correction if that is what brought you here.

Questions

Can I delete a certified payroll record I submitted by mistake?

No. DIR's eCPR FAQ states there is no way to delete a payroll report once submitted. If the record is simply wrong, resubmit the corrected version for that week ending date. If the record describes work that never happened, file a Statement of Non-Performance for that week instead of a corrected payroll.

Do I need to resubmit every worker, or just the one with the error?

Treat the resubmission as the complete record for that week. DIR describes the corrected filing as replacing the original payroll submission for the workweek, not patching one row inside it, so include every worker on that week's payroll, not only the one you are fixing.

What happens if I change the project or the week ending date when I resubmit a correction?

You have described a different payroll, not corrected the one you filed. Keep the identifying details of the submission, the week ending date, the project, and your registration, matched to the record you intend to replace. See our eCPR XML upload errors guide for the fields we recommend keeping identical.

Does DIR notify me when a correction stops a penalty?

The regulation sets the condition, not a notification. Under 8 CCR 16463(e), an inadequate record gives the Labor Commissioner authority to require the Awarding Body to withhold contract payments. Under 8 CCR 16463(d)(3), prompt correction within one payroll period of the Labor Commissioner's notice avoids that only when the inaccuracies stay under 1 percent of that week's certified payroll in dollar value and affect fewer than half the workers listed. Miss either threshold, or the window, and that withholding authority stays in place.

How do I fix my company address or FEIN information on file with DIR?

That is not a payroll correction. Email publicworks@dir.ca.gov with your FEIN and the information that needs to change, per DIR's eCPR FAQ.

Can I correct a WH-347 the same way I correct an eCPR?

No. The eCPR's system-assigned payroll and amendment numbers are specific to DIR. A WH-347 correction goes through the contracting agency or your prime under the Copeland Act, and the corrected week still needs its own signed Statement of Compliance. On a project that owes both filings, correct both and keep the hours and wages consistent between them.