Certified payroll penalty calculator

Two different penalties get quoted as "$100 a day." They have different triggers, different clocks, and one of them has a cap. This calculator computes each from the statute text, then tells you what the number is not.

Penalty 1: the records request (Labor Code 1776)

When an awarding body, the Labor Commissioner, or another entitled party makes a written request for your certified payroll records, you have 10 days to comply. After the 10 day period, Labor Code section 1776(h) sets a forfeit of $100 for each calendar day, or portion of a day, for each worker, until strict compliance. On the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement's request the penalties are withheld from progress payments then due.

Workers on the project Calendar days past the 10 day window

Records request exposure so far$7,000and rising by $1,000 every calendar day until the records are produced

Formula: $100 multiplied by workers multiplied by days past the window. No statutory cap in section 1776(h). A contractor is not penalized under this section for a subcontractor's failure.

Penalty 2: not furnishing eCPRs to the Labor Commissioner (Labor Code 1771.4)

Labor Code section 1771.4(a)(3) requires each contractor and subcontractor to furnish certified payroll records directly to the Labor Commissioner electronically, at least monthly, meaning once every 30 days while work is performed and within 30 days after the final day, or more often if the contract says so. Failing to furnish them carries a penalty of $100 per day in violation, not to exceed $5,000 per project, and the Labor Commissioner does not levy it until 14 days after the records were due.

Days in violation, after the 14 day grace Projects affected

eCPR penalty exposure$2,000capped at $5,000 per project, $5,000 across the projects entered

Formula: $100 multiplied by days, capped at $5,000 per project, multiplied by projects. The 14 day grace runs from the date the records were required under the monthly or contract frequency.

What these numbers are not

They are not "every late weekly filing costs $100 per worker per day." The 1776 penalty starts with a written records request and a missed 10 day window.
They are not the only exposure. Progress payments can be withheld while records are outstanding, and wage underpayments found in the records carry their own penalties under other sections.
They are not legal advice. The statute text is linked above; an attorney applies it to your facts.

The cheaper number

A subcontractor with a 10 worker crew who lets a records request go two weeks past the window is looking at $14,000 of forfeit before anyone has discussed underpayments. Producing the records on time, from filings that were done correctly every week, costs $249 per month flat. If you are behind now, the first weekly filing is free and back filings are how most subs start with us.