NJ Wage Hub: how to register and submit your first certified payroll

Who must use the Wage Hub, and since when

The NJ Wage Hub is NJDOL's online system for public works contractors and public bodies to submit and view certified payroll and projects, per the NJDOL Wage Hub page, which says P.L. 2023, c.138 was enacted on August 16, 2023. NJDOL's press release dated July 17, 2024 says the requirement is "Effective August 15," and the Department of Community Affairs' Local Finance Notice 2024-18 (November 22, 2024) gives the date as August 15, 2024.

The notice says contractors and subcontractors on a prevailing wage project must submit certified payroll records on the Wage Hub, and public bodies must register too. NJDOL's Wage Hub FAQ says any contractor working on a New Jersey public works project must use it, school districts included. That FAQ answer does not mention a contract threshold.

The Act applies to contracts above a threshold. N.J.S.A. 34:11-56.26(11) sets the municipal amount by a consumer price index formula, refers to the regulation for the current figure, and sets $2,000 for other public work. N.J.A.C. 12:60-1.4(b) applies the rules to every contract "in excess of" $19,375 awarded by a municipal public body and every contract in excess of $2,000 awarded by a nonmunicipal public body, plus their subcontracts. NJDOL's compilation footnote dates the $19,375 figure from July 1, 2024. If your contract is near the line, ask the contracting body or NJDOL.

Two NJDOL pages disagree with these sources. The public works page dates the requirement from August 2023, the enactment month. The Wage Hub FAQ prints a municipal threshold different from the regulation's, while the quick reference on NJDOL's Wage Hub updates page prints $19,375. Use August 15, 2024 and the regulation's figure.

What you need before you sign up

The contractor guide lists three items:

• Your 9-digit FEIN.
• Your Contractor Registration number. The guide's sign-up form labels this field "Contractor Registration Certificate Number."
• Your Contractor Registration Reference ID, a 10-digit number NJDOL emails you when you apply for public works contractor registration.

A new company must get public works contractor registration first, then register for the Wage Hub, per the Wage Hub FAQ. NJDOL asks you to allow 30 days for a registration application, so start before your first payroll is due. Our page on New Jersey contractor registration covers who must register, when, and the fee.

The text list above says "Contractor Registration number," but the sign-up form in the guide's page 4 screenshot labels the field "Contractor Registration Certificate Number." Its helper text calls it typically a 6-digit number issued by NJDOL, and the reference ID field beneath it is typically 10 digits and appears on your registration email confirmation. The registration FAQ says the certificate lists a certificate number, so check your certificate first. If sign-up rejects the number, see our Wage Hub troubleshooting page.

Register on the Wage Hub

1. Open the portal. Go to njwages.nj.gov and choose Contractor Sign Up, per the contractor guide.
2. Enter your three identifiers. Fill in the FEIN, registration number, and Reference ID. The guide's page 4 sign-up form also has First Name, Last Name, Email, and Phone Number fields marked with asterisks, a Job Title field, and an "I agree to the Terms and Conditions" box. Complete the form, then continue.
3. Sign in to myNJ. Enter your myNJ login, or choose no to create one. The guide has you add a phone number for multifactor authentication.
4. Check whether you also need Employer Access. The notice on the Wage Hub home page, shown on page 3 of the contractor guide, says in-state public works contractors must sign up for it as a separate registration. Details follow the steps.
5. Add colleagues. Each person sets up their own myNJ account first, then you add them as authorized users, per the Wage Hub FAQ.

Employer Access is a separate registration

The guide's numbered text steps do not describe Employer Access. Its home page screenshot (guide page 3, last updated March 6, 2026) does. An NJDOL banner on it says in-state public works contractors must register for the Wage Hub and also sign up for Employer Access, and that these are separate registrations. The same screenshot says a public body's myNewJersey account must be registered with Employer Access, formerly called TWES. NJDOL's July 17, 2024 press release says Wage Hub users log in with a myNJ account that must be registered with NJDOL's Employer Accounts Division.

NJDOL's Employer Access page says P.L. 2022, c. 120 (S2357) requires electronic communication with the Divisions of Employer Accounts and Unemployment Insurance, and that you register by verifying your credentials there and then linking a new or existing myNewJersey account. Its FAQ says that if you already have a myNewJersey account, you link it and do not create a second one. That page also says a business must be subject to the New Jersey Unemployment Compensation law and required to file Forms NJ927 and WR30 to register.

The same Wage Hub screenshot tells in-state and out-of-state contractors, including those without an NJ927, to use the Contractor Sign Up and Log In buttons. The Wage Hub FAQ says an NJ 927 is no longer needed by a contractor to register for Wage Hub. NJDOL's pages do not reconcile either of those with the banner and the Employer Access page's NJ927 and WR30 condition for a contractor that has no New Jersey unemployment account. If you are not sure whether you need Employer Access, email NJDOL at njwagehubinfo@dol.nj.gov before your first payroll is due. The guide lists that address for site questions.

Find your project

You cannot add a payroll until the project exists in the Wage Hub, per the contractor guide. Prime contractors and public bodies can both add projects, per the Wage Hub FAQ. If the public body entered yours and named you, a project card appears on your Projects tab.

Contract upload and subcontractor access

NJDOL's April 14, 2026 update says only general contractors can add subcontractors to projects. Subcontractors can no longer add themselves, but once a general contractor adds one, it can add its own subcontractors. The update also says a project is not active without a contract. The undated Wage Hub FAQ calls the contract upload "optional at this time," but the March 2026 contractor guide calls it mandatory, with at least one contract file per project. Upload one.

If the prime never enters the project

The FAQ and the statute pull in different directions. The undated FAQ says that if the prime does not register the project, you submit payrolls to the public body as you did before the Wage Hub. Section 56.29(b)(2) still requires online submission to NJDOL, and you cannot add a payroll to a project that does not exist. Do not read the FAQ answer as permission to skip the Wage Hub. Ask the prime in writing to add the project, and email NJDOL at njwagehubinfo@dol.nj.gov.

Submit your first certified payroll

The contractor guide lists four ways to submit weekly certified payroll.

The online form has four sections: company details, hours and deductions, fringe benefits, and certification. The week ending date is required. Tick Final Certification when it is your final certification for the project. The guide says that when a prime contractor ticks it, the project becomes Complete automatically, and it does not say what a subcontractor's tick does. Tick No Work Week for a week with no work. If you enter one by hand, the Wage Hub FAQ says to complete all fillable fields first. The MW-562 dated 2/25 has check boxes for both, and the April 2026 update says the older 6/23 version still works. Our MW-562 field guide goes through the form.

Who certifies

In the certification step you check a box saying your electronic signature has the same legal effect as a written one, then enter your full name and the date, per the contractor guide. The guide does not reproduce the certification wording and says the online steps do not exactly match the paper MW-562, so the form is the nearest published text. Its signer statement, item (1), begins "I pay or supervise the payment of the persons employed by" the contractor or subcontractor. The form warns that falsifying its statements may subject the contractor or subcontractor to civil or criminal prosecution (MW-562, page 2). The regulation defines the term. N.J.A.C. 12:60-2.1 says a certified payroll record is attested to by the employer, the owner of the company doing business as the employer, a corporate officer of that company, or an authorized agent of the employer. NJDOL's prevailing wage FAQ restates it more loosely, as a record certified true and accurate by "a principal or authorized agent" of the business. NJDOL's pages do not say who may complete the online step specifically, so check item (1) of the MW-562 against the person you choose.

After you submit

The Wage Hub emails a confirmation number, per the guide. NJDOL says it cannot manually confirm receipt of individual submissions, and every successful payroll is listed in your dashboard. You cannot edit a submitted payroll. Submit another for the same week ending date, and the Wage Hub FAQ says the last one counts as the correct version. For a payroll sent to the wrong project, NJDOL's April 14, 2026 update says to email njwagehubinfo@dol.nj.gov.

When each payroll is due

Under N.J.S.A. 34:11-56.29(b)(2), you submit certified payroll records for each payroll period within 10 days of the date the wages were paid to a worker. The statute counts the 10 days from the date wages were paid to a worker. N.J.A.C. 12:60-5.1(c) repeats the 10 day rule.

Payroll period or week

The statute says "each payroll period." NJDOL's press release says the Act requires weekly payroll records, and the contractor guide speaks of weekly certified payroll. The Wage Hub form requires a week ending date, and its certification step asks for a payroll period (same guide). NJDOL does not say how a biweekly or semi-monthly payroll fits. If your pay period is not weekly, confirm with NJDOL at njwagehubinfo@dol.nj.gov before you submit.

The Wage Hub emails a reminder every Monday at 10 AM EST, per the contractor guide, but the 10 days is the deadline. If a payroll has already slipped, read our page on late New Jersey certified payroll.

Who can see what you submit

The statute has NJDOL post certified payroll records online for public viewing, redacting just workers' addresses and Social Security numbers (section 56.29(b)(1)). That redaction is for the public posting. The same subsection says the records are made available to the public body in full and without redaction, and section 56.29(b)(3) says the public body and NJDOL are entitled to "original, unredacted" certified payroll submissions.

Do you also send a copy to the public body?

Yes. Under section 56.29(b)(3), online submission to NJDOL does not relieve the contractor of submitting records to the public body. NJDOL's sources differ on what form that copy takes.

The statute, the press release, the contractor guide, and the public body guide all say the public body gets its own copy. Only the press release, the prevailing wage FAQ, and the MW-562 say anything about its form, and they differ. Ask the contracting body in writing whether it wants paper, a signed original, or accepts the Wage Hub record.

If the project is also federal

The prevailing wage FAQ says Davis-Bacon payrolls go to the federal agency, NJ Wage and Hour does not monitor projects covered exclusively by Davis-Bacon, and some projects such as airports and highways may be subject to both laws. Our page on New Jersey versus federal certified payroll compares them. For other states, see certified payroll requirements by state.

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