LCPtracker no work week: does Caltrans require one, and how do you certify it?

Does Caltrans require a no work week?

Yes, on a contract that runs in LCPtracker, if your checklist is the 1/2026 revision or a later one that keeps this line. The state checklist and the federal-aid checklist, both revised January 2026, say "No Work Certifications must be submitted for non-performing work weeks". The rest of that sentence, which is the same in both, applies it to all contractors, owner-operators included, for each week after the initial work week through the end of the project. If the checklist your prime signed is older, ask your prime or labor compliance contact whether the requirement applies to you, because this page has not seen the earlier text.

• The run starts after the initial work week, a term the checklist does not define. The sentence does not say whether that is the first work week on the project or the first work week for your crew. If your crew starts after the project does, ask your labor compliance contact whether the weeks before your start need a No Work Certification, and keep the answer. LCPtracker's Quick Start Guide gives the vendor's own general instruction, to certify each week beginning when you first start work on your project. That is LCPtracker's wording, not the checklist's.
• It has no stated deadline of its own. The lines around it ask for weekly submission through LCPtracker and say that "certified payrolls and other documents not previously submitted" are due on or before the 15th of the month for the previous month's work (state checklist, federal-aid checklist). The checklists do not say whether that 15th of the month backstop applies to No Work Certifications.
• It runs to the end of the project. The checklist does not say when a subcontractor that has finished its scope may stop. LCPtracker's Statement of Compliance has a final payroll box (Certification guide), but the checklist does not say how it relates to No Work Certifications. Ask your labor compliance contact before you stop, and keep the answer.

The same checklists (state, federal-aid) say that failure by the prime to submit the required reports or documents through LCPtracker results in up to a 10 percent progress payment withhold for the month, with a $1,000 minimum and a $10,000 maximum. For Minor B and Emergency contracts, the checklists say all payments due to the contractor are withheld. Section 7-1.02K(3) of the 2025 Standard Specifications adds that the Department withholds up to 10 percent of the monthly progress estimate, exclusive of mobilization, if you have not submitted an adequate record by the month's 15th day for the period ending on or before the 1st of that month. This page read the 2025 edition and does not know which edition your contract uses, so check your contract documents. The checklists do not say whether a missing No Work Certification counts. See the Caltrans delinquent payroll notice guide for what Caltrans sends, and Caltrans certified payroll in LCPtracker for the rest of the weekly list.

Which Caltrans checklist do you have?

Two of the nine pre-job checklists on Caltrans' labor compliance page mention No Work Certifications. The prime signs the checklist for your contract (see the signature block on the state and federal-aid LCPtracker checklists), so ask your prime for a copy. The two LCPtracker checklists carry an LCPtracker Project heading on page one. The two contract checklists without that heading (state, federal-aid) ask for submissions in an unmodifiable PDF format, so this page calls them "PDF submission" checklists; that label is ours, not Caltrans'.

If your checklist does not mention it

The state and federal-aid contract checklists still ask for weekly payrolls with a CEM-2503 Statement of Compliance, as unmodifiable PDFs, with the same 15th of the month backstop. They say nothing about a week with no work, and neither does chapter 13 of Caltrans' labor compliance manual, which says the time to submit follows the contract provisions. That leaves the question open, so ask the labor compliance contact named on your checklist, and get the answer in writing before you skip a week.

Caltrans also describes a second submission route. The 2025 Standard Specifications, section 7-1.02K(3), tell contractors to submit certified payroll records electronically through the Department's contracted system, LCPtracker Pro, and Caltrans' Labor Compliance Policy Bulletin 25-1 (effective May 15, 2025) says that for construction contracts Caltrans has adopted LCPtracker for submitting certified payroll records. Caltrans' File Transfer quick guide (© 2020) describes a portal for electronic submittal of "PDF documents referenced in the contract provisions" and says that process is exclusive and separate from projects using LCPtracker Pro. The guide ties File Transfer to the contract provisions, so check yours and ask the labor compliance contact which system your contract uses. See File Transfer vs LCPtracker for how the tracks differ.

How to certify a no work week in LCPtracker

These steps follow LCPtracker's Certification guide and Quick Start Guide. Neither shows a revision date as read on November 4, 2026. If your screen differs, go by the screen. For the multi-week option the Quick Start says you enter "the start date and the last date", while the Certification guide specifies the week-end date of the first week not on the project, and this page follows the guide.

1. You can skip the payroll tabs. The guide says you can skip tab 1, Payroll Records, and tab 2, Notices, and go straight to tab 3, Certification.
2. Pick the right project. The guide says to be sure you choose the correct project, especially if you are assigned to more than one.
3. Change the week type. The default is for a week with work. Choose a no work option from the table below.
4. Fill in the rest of step 1. That is the week-end date, the payroll number if your screen asks for one (the Quick Start's list for this step does not mention it), and the name and title of the person certifying. The multi-week option replaces the single week-end date with two dates. LCPtracker shows your last week-end date and payroll number in green beside the project, which helps with numbering. Click Next.
5. Read the Statement of Compliance, then sign. Step 2 shows it, and the Administrator's settings decide what it looks like. Enter your eSignature password and submit. If the password gives you trouble, see our page on LCPtracker eSignature problems.
6. Check the final box only for your final payroll. The guide says to leave it clear otherwise. If it was set wrongly, the guide says you can change Final from Yes to No, or the reverse, by editing the week under Projects, then Certified Payrolls.

Which option to choose

LCPtracker's FAQ on idle consecutive weeks words the multi-week option differently, as No work to be performed for multiple consecutive weeks. The two articles do not agree, and the table follows the Certification guide, which walks through the screens. Pick the option on your screen that names multiple consecutive weeks and opens two date fields. The FAQ says you can certify multiple non-performing weeks at once, but the Caltrans checklists say No Work Certifications are required "for each week" and do not say whether one multi-week certification satisfies that, so confirm with your labor compliance contact first. If your screen shows something else, call LCPtracker support at 714-669-0052, option 4, the number in the Quick Start Guide.

If you certified the wrong week

The Certification guide says you cannot delete the entire week from the system. Only the Administrators in charge can, and it says they typically only delete when the week-end date was wrong or the week went in under the wrong project. The guide's step 1 text reads differently: if the project name or week-end date is wrong, it says "you will need to delete it and begin again", and it does not explain how that fits with the rule that only Administrators can delete a week. If you are unsure which applies, ask the Administrator in charge before you re-enter anything. Click Show Info on the project under Projects for their name, email, and phone number.

To change a certified week, go to Projects, then Certified Payrolls, choose the project, and click Edit next to the week, as the guide describes. If the edit time has passed, the guide says LCPtracker cannot grant permission, because that is the Administrator's function. A Rejected or Permit Edit status shows on the same screen; see rejected payroll in LCPtracker.

Who signs, and where DIR fits

The contractor signs. In LCPtracker, per the Certification guide, step 1 asks for the name and title of the person certifying, and step 2 asks for an eSignature password. LCPtracker's Add/Edit eSignature article says all contractor users must electronically sign their payrolls before submitting them, and that the eSignature password and the login password are two different items. Caltrans' manual says that by signing the Statement of Compliance the contractor declares under penalty of perjury that the information is true and correct as far as they know (chapter 13). See who signs certified payroll.

LCPtracker and DIR's eCPR system are separate systems, and the sources linked on this page do not say how a No Work Certification in LCPtracker relates to eCPR. DIR's public works FAQ (dated September 2024) says only that, if payroll was submitted for a period in which no work was performed, you may submit a Statement of Non-Performance amendment for that payroll. DIR's exemptions page, which carries a July 2016 date, says that until further notice projects monitored and enforced by the legacy labor compliance programs it lists are exempt from submitting certified payroll records to DIR. Caltrans is on that list, along with the City of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Unified School District, and the County of Sacramento, as are projects covered by qualifying project labor agreements. The page says a project may be exempted if an approved labor compliance program monitors and enforces it or a qualifying project labor agreement covers it. A job outside those categories is not on the list, and filing for a week with no work covers how DIR's system treats that week.

What WellStanding does

WellStanding prepares your Caltrans payroll documents from the payroll export you already run, and a person reviews them. You review and sign; the certification is always yours and we never sign for you.

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