Maine certified payroll: monthly, every pay period, or weekly?

Monthly or every pay period?

The statute is the law. The DOL pages are guidance, and a footer year dates a page, not a sentence. No source says which wins, so ask whoever holds your contract.

1. Ask the letting authority in writing how often it wants payroll, on what form or system, and whether the general contractor also gets a copy.
2. Keep the reply with the contract. DOL's Wage and Hour Division, (207) 623-7900, takes guidance questions.

DOL's forms are week-ending forms. The Certified Payroll form and the fillable Payroll Reporting Form are both headed "For week ending," and their Statement of Compliance says all persons employed "have been paid the full weekly wages earned." Neither form prints a revision date, so use the version your letting authority names.

Which jobs the Maine law covers

Public works under 1304(8) are buildings, roads, bridges, public schools and other structures funded in whole or in part by state funds on a contract of $50,000 or more. Section 1304(2) defines "construction" as work on "any public works let to contract" and excludes engineering or architectural services, temporary or emergency repairs, and "any contract of less than $10,000."

Town-owned and local jobs

The statute and the Labor Department's page do not read alike on local governments:

• The statute. Section 1304(7) defines "public authority" as the Maine Turnpike Authority or any officer, board, commission or agency of the State authorized to contract for public works and supported in whole or in part by State public funds. It does not list towns or other local governments.
• The Labor Department. Its prevailing wage rates page calls a state agency or a local government a public authority. It counts only projects where that authority obtained state funds specific to the project, so a town job with dedicated State money is in.

The same DOL page excludes three kinds of work:

• Projects where the state money is not dedicated to the project, with Revenue Sharing funds as its example.
• Maintenance work.
• Projects where state and local employees do the work.

DOL also says each qualifying project must have a prevailing wage determination attached to the bid document, and the official determination must be posted at the work site. On a town-owned job, confirm in writing with the letting authority whether Maine prevailing wage applies and who receives your payroll. For guidance on the law, call DOL's Wage and Hour Division at (207) 623-7900. DOL's own page says to contact it if in doubt.

Assisted projects, in full

An assisted project under 1304(1-A) meets all three:

• Requests for bids or proposals began on or after January 1, 2023, including ones that supplement an earlier process.
• Nameplate capacity is 2 megawatts or more, for a renewable energy or energy production project, including all phases of site preparation, construction, retrofitting and demolition.
• The State provides certifications that entitle the generator to renewable energy credits, or other economic assistance such as power purchase agreement payments, rebates, grants, loans or commitments of funds.

The same 1304(1-A) definition excludes a project the Public Utilities Commission approved or authorized under Title 35-A on or before June 29, 2021, and a net energy billing project meeting Title 35-A section 3209-A(7) or 3209-B. The 1304(1-A) definition has no dollar floor of its own. The $10,000 exclusion in 1304(2) sits below the $50,000 public works test, so it can matter only on an assisted project, and 1304(2) is worded for public works: the statute does not say whether it reaches one. Under $10,000, ask the assisting State agency. Section 1306-A requires prevailing rates for all construction workers and proof within 7 days of a DOL request that apprentices are registered.

Under 1314(1), sections 1304 to 1313 do not apply to a public works construction "built in whole or in part using federal funds" that is under the Davis-Bacon Act or another federal act where the US Secretary of Labor sets the wage and benefits. Because 1304(8) also covers construction funded "in whole or in part" by the State, a job funded partly by the State and partly under Davis-Bacon falls on the 1314(1) side for sections 1304 to 1313. That lifts only 1304 to 1313. Section 1303 is outside that range: it requires public works, "including state highways," to pay not less than the fair minimum rate under section 1308, and a knowing and willful violation carries a fine of not less than $250 per employee violation. Section 1317, covered below, is outside the range too.

Which channel fits your job

The Civil Rights page (copyright 2025) says all contractors and subcontractors on federal-aid work must use Elation. See the WH-347 guide for the federal weekly rule, the SF-1444 guide for a missing classification, and who to ask about Elation.

Section 1314(1) lifts only sections 1304 to 1313, not 1303 or 1317, and MaineDOT's form says Elation also checks Maine State Labor Wage Rate compliance. Ask MaineDOT in writing which rate applies on your contract, and keep the reply with the contract.

The craft-worker safety statement

Section 1317 requires a contractor or subcontractor employing craft workers on public works to:

1. Require every craft worker on site to have completed a construction safety training program that uses an OSHA-approved curriculum and runs at least 10 hours.
2. Submit monthly to the public authority that let the contract a signed statement that each has.
3. Post a signed affidavit at each job site that it has met the section.

Section 1304(3-A) defines a craft worker as a person "engaged in a construction trade that is eligible for coverage under a wage determination under this chapter." Section 1317 applies to "public works" as 1304(8) defines them, which means state-funded construction on a contract of $50,000 or more, and 1314(1) does not lift it.

The statute names no form, so ask what the letting authority accepts. The enacting law, Public Law 2021, chapter 465, section 5, states the Legislature's intent that the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, Bureau of General Services and the Department of Transportation "comply with" the 1317 training requirements, and that the Department of Labor "enforce" 1317 "within existing resources." The sources do not say how 1317 applies on a federal-aid contract.

What the Maine record must show

• Independent contractors too. Section 1311 requires names, occupation, hours, job title, rate and actual pay for every worker and every independent contractor under contract with you, kept at the job site. None must be kept past 3 years after the contract ends.
• Apprentices. Section 1314(2) limits the apprentice rate to participants in a registered apprenticeship program. The 2025 rules add that the holder of an apprentice license from the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation is not a registered apprentice.

When it goes wrong, obligation by obligation

Chapter 15, read in full through 1317, has no section that withholds contract payments or bars a contractor from bidding. On federal-aid contracts, MaineDOT's 2018 guide says the labor standards clauses provide for withholding (FHWA-1273 changes). Other states: the state-by-state table.

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