Missouri certified payroll: weekly or monthly, and who gets it
The answer depends on who owns the job. This page reads 8 CSR 30-3.010, RSMo 290.290, the Division of Labor Standards contractor page, and the contract documents and guidance of MoDOT and other owners.
Last reviewed against the sources it cites
The short answer
It depends on who owns the job. Missouri's prevailing wage rule says monthly, to the contracting public body. MoDOT's contract requires weekly payrolls, and its staff guide sets 7 days, while the state's LS-57 form instructions and MHDC, where Davis-Bacon funding applies, also say weekly. Check your contract, and keep payroll by the week so you can meet either schedule.
- 8 CSR 30-3.010(7) tells the successful bid contractors to submit certified copies of their current payrolls to the contracting public body each month, and names no form, portal or day of the month.
- MoDOT's 2026 Standard Specifications, Sec 110.3.2, have the contractor submit certified payrolls to the engineer each week, and its Engineering Policy Guide tells staff to expect each one within 7 days of the payment date.
- The Division of Labor Standards' August 2025 LS-57 instruction sheet says payroll reports must be submitted each week and that an idle week is marked "No Work".
- RSMo 290.250 sets a $100 penalty per worker per day for underpayment, but the penalty is not due until 45 days after DLS's notice of penalty, the employer may dispute that notice in writing within the same 45 days, and paying the back wages before DLS pursues enforcement bars that penalty action.
- Under RSMo 290.290.2, no public body may make final payment until each contractor and subcontractor has filed the affidavit of compliance with it.
- The state law does not apply when the engineer's estimate or the accepted bid for the total project cost is $75,000 or less, and the total counts materials and supplies (RSMo 290.230.5).
The rule says monthly. Many owners say weekly.
On MoDOT work, the contract has you submit certified payrolls to the engineer each week (2026 Standard Specifications, Sec 110.3.2), and a payroll more than 7 days late may delay your payment estimate (EPG 110.3). Yet under 8 CSR 30-3.010(7), each month the successful bid contractors submit certified copies of their current payrolls to the contracting public body. The rule (amended effective July 30, 2019) names no form, portal or day of the month. The Division of Labor Standards (DLS) does not settle it. Its contractor page says to send payrolls to the public entity and gives no schedule, while its LS-57 instruction sheet (revision 08-25) says payroll reports must be submitted each week.
| Owner | How often | Where it goes | Week with no work |
|---|---|---|---|
| State rule, any public body (8 CSR 30-3.010) | Monthly | The contracting public body | Not addressed |
| DLS form instructions (LS-57-3) | Each week | Not stated | Mark "No Work" |
| MoDOT highway work (2026 Standard Specifications, Sec 110.3.2; EPG 110.3, last edited Sept. 3, 2026) | Weekly (specifications); within 7 days of the payment date (EPG guidance) | The engineer. EPG guidance: digitally signed, sent electronically, prime sends every sub's payroll | EPG guidance: no statement needed; MoDOT logs the week |
| One City of Kansas City Water Services contract (contract file) | Weekly payrolls, due within two weeks after the week ends (2013 instruction form); a daily labor force report each day | The City's web-based Prevailing Wage Reporting System | Submit a payroll showing no work |
| MHDC multifamily developments where Davis-Bacon applies (policy, June 2025) | Weekly | Email to MHDC's Davis Bacon Administrator, then the signed original by mail | No report needed; sequential numbers show the gap |
The Kansas City row comes from one contract on the City Clerk's site: a project manual with a Nov. 30, 2021 addendum and general conditions dated Oct. 7, 2020. The two-week timing is in a payroll instruction form with a 2013 footer date in that package. MHDC's policy requires weekly payrolls on developments where Davis-Bacon applies, and lists triggers such as 12 or more HOME-assisted units, Housing Choice Vouchers, RAD, or CDBG used for construction. On federal-aid work, MoDOT's federal-aid article says the greater of the federal or state rate is paid; where overtime rules differ, EPG 110.3 says to compare total pay per pay period. See our WH-347 guide and FHWA-1273 guide.
Which schedule do you owe?
- Name the owner. A school district, city, county or state agency is a public body.
- Read the payroll clause in the bid documents.
- If the documents are silent, the state rule is monthly to the public body. Ask the public body in writing and keep its answer. The LS-57-3 sheet lists DLS at 573-751-3403.
- Keep payroll by the week either way. The LS-57 (revision 11-22) is laid out by week, so weekly records let you send whatever schedule the owner asks for. See our LS-57 guide.
Who sends it: the prime or each sub
The state rule has the successful bid contractors send the monthly payroll. Under state law, every contractor and subcontractor must keep full payroll records, open to inspection at any reasonable time, and not destroy them or move them out of the state for one year after completion (RSMo 290.290.1). MHDC's policy sets three years after the development is completed on its developments, with the general contractor keeping a copy of every sub's records. The prime carries penalty risk too: the penalty in RSMo 290.250.1 covers wages underpaid by any subcontractor, and the contractor may withhold from a sub to cover penalties the public body withholds.
What a Missouri payroll has to show
- Overtime. RSMo 290.230.1 sets time and a half after 10 hours a day or 40 a calendar week, and double time on Sundays and seven listed holidays.
- Worker type and ratio. Record each worker by occupational title and as a journeyman, entry-level worker, or federally registered apprentice (8 CSR 30-3.010(7)). Entry-level workers and federally registered apprentices combined cannot exceed one per journeyman in any occupational title on a public works project (RSMo 290.235.2). The statute does not say per contractor, so read literally it is a project-wide count. On MoDOT work, MoDOT's guide counts apprentices against journeymen per contractor and per trade, not across all contractors, and does not mention entry-level workers. For any other owner, ask which count it applies.
- Address and Social Security number. The state rule and LS-57 instructions want name and address. MoDOT's guide bars addresses and full Social Security numbers and asks for an ID such as the last four digits. MHDC wants the current address and last four digits. The payroll instruction form in the Kansas City contract asks for the full number (xxx-xx-xxxx).
What happens when it goes wrong
RSMo 290.250 puts a dollar figure on underpayment. The statutes linked here set no separate amount for a late payroll.
| Problem | Consequence |
|---|---|
| MoDOT payroll over 7 days late | It may delay payment estimates. If you are routinely late with no effort to improve, the resident engineer should withhold payment until the next regular estimate after you comply (EPG 110.3). |
| Underpayment | The public body must withhold what is owed, and you forfeit $100 per worker for each calendar day or part of a day paid below the rate. The statute's figure is a flat $100, while MoDOT's specification words it as up to $100 (2026 Standard Specifications, Sec 110.3). The penalty is not due until 45 days after DLS's notice of penalty. You may dispute that notice in writing within the same 45 days, DLS must then offer arbitration, and paying the determined back wages before DLS pursues enforcement bars the penalty action (RSMo 290.250). A contract can add more: the Kansas City contract also deducts $100 per day per underpaid worker as liquidated damages (general conditions, subparagraph J). |
| DLS notice ignored | The attorney general can sue to stop the award, further work or payments until the notice is satisfied (RSMo 290.335). |
| Conviction | Debarment for one year from a first conviction and three years from each later violation and conviction (RSMo 290.330). A willful violation of any provision carries a fine up to $500, up to six months in jail, or both, and each day is a separate offense (RSMo 290.340). |
Owners label corrections differently. MoDOT's guide (EPG 110.3.2) wants the same payroll number marked corrected or amended, a new statement of compliance, and proof of restitution for non-trivial errors. The DLS sheet says reuse the number and add "(rev)". The Kansas City contract adds an "R" to a revised payroll and wants errors fixed within 14 calendar days of notice. MHDC's policy wants a "Restitution Payroll" with cleared checks and worker statements, within 30 days.
Final payment: the affidavit
Each contractor and subcontractor files an affidavit of compliance with the contracting public body at completion, and no public body may make final payment until it is filed (RSMo 290.290.2). The affidavit goes to the public body: the statute says so, and DLS's contractor checklist (PW-8) and public body checklist (PW-5) say the same, as does the contractor page. Only the guidebook says the Division, and the public bodies page has the public body collect the affidavits and send DLS a copy. Ask the public body whether it wants DLS copied.
MoDOT uses its own PW-4-MODOT (footer dated 03-16), sworn before a notary. DLS's own PW-4 (footer dated 07-14) is also sworn before a notary and has a line for receipt by the public body's representative. MoDOT's guide to its engineers says a prime has the right to withhold final payment if a sub does not submit the affidavit. That is agency guidance, not statute text.
The $75,000 line and the PW-2
Missouri's prevailing wage law (RSMo 290.210 to 290.340) does not apply when the engineer's estimate or accepted bid for the total project cost is $75,000 or less, and the total counts materials and supplies (RSMo 290.230.5). That threshold governs only the state law. It does not decide whether a federal program applies: MHDC's policy lists its own Davis-Bacon triggers and tells developers to check every funding source. A public body may not split a project to get under the line, and a change order that pushes it over applies the law to the excess (RSMo 290.230.6 and 7). Above the line, the public body, not you, files the PW-2 project notification (8 CSR 30-3.010(3)), and the DLS guidebook says it goes to the Division before any work may begin; MoDOT sends a monthly list of awards instead (EPG 110.3.4).
Other states differ: see certified payroll rules in every state.
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Questions
Is Missouri certified payroll weekly or monthly?
Do I send certified payroll to the Missouri Department of Labor?
Do I submit a payroll for a week with no work?
Does Missouri require a specific payroll form?
Sources
Every figure on this page links to its source where it first appears. The full list, in order:
- 8 CSR 30-3.010 sos.mo.gov
- RSMo 290.290 revisor.mo.gov
- Division of Labor Standards contractor page labor.mo.gov
- MoDOT modot.org
- Engineering Policy Guide epg.modot.org
- August 2025 LS-57 instruction sheet labor.mo.gov
- RSMo 290.250 revisor.mo.gov
- RSMo 290.230.5 revisor.mo.gov
- contract file clerk.kcmo.gov
- policy, June 2025 mhdc.com
- federal-aid article epg.modot.org
- public body revisor.mo.gov
- LS-57 labor.mo.gov
- RSMo 290.235.2 revisor.mo.gov
- RSMo 290.335 revisor.mo.gov
- RSMo 290.330 revisor.mo.gov
- RSMo 290.340 revisor.mo.gov
- contractor checklist (PW-8) labor.mo.gov
- public body checklist (PW-5) labor.mo.gov
- guidebook labor.mo.gov
- public bodies page labor.mo.gov
- PW-4-MODOT epg.modot.org
- PW-4 labor.mo.gov
- prevailing wage complaints labor.mo.gov
- program documents ded.mo.gov