Who must submit online
P.L. 2023, c.138, enacted August 16, 2023, requires certified payrolls for New Jersey public works projects to be submitted online, through the New Jersey Wage Hub run by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development (NJDOL). The requirement took effect on August 15, 2024 (Fisher Phillips). NJDOL's FAQ says any contractor working on a New Jersey public works project is required to use the Wage Hub (Wage Hub FAQ).
The prime contractor or public body registers the project; subcontractors do not enter projects themselves. If the prime contractor has not registered the project, the FAQ says to submit all certified payrolls to the public body the way you did before.
Four ways to submit
- Enter the payroll by hand on the Wage Hub.
- Fill in the Payroll Certification for Public Works Projects (form MW-562) electronically and upload it.
- Fill in NJDOL's CSV templates and upload them.
- Upload the certified payroll CSV export from Quantum Project Manager.
Each submission takes two CSV files at most: one for Step 2 and one for Step 3. The Wage Hub fills the form from them and shows a summary of invalid or missing fields for each step, so you can correct them before you certify (NJWH contractor user guide).
The Step 2 file: employees, hours and deductions
One row per employee, with 41 columns. NJDOL's guide to the templates sets these input formats:
- Employee: legal first and last name, address, job title (Apprentice, Foreman or Journeyman) and work classification.
- Demographics: sex (M, F or X), race (W, B, A, N, I or M) and ethnicity (H for Hispanic, N for Non-Hispanic).
- The week: the date of each day from Sunday to Saturday as mm/dd/yyyy, straight-time and overtime hours for each day with weekly totals, and the straight-time and overtime hourly rates written like $95.50.
- Pay: gross wages for the week on all projects (including private work), gross on this project, FICA, state tax, federal tax, other deductions and total deductions.
- Net and fringe: net wages for the week, which the guide defines as gross for the week minus total deductions, and the hourly cost of fringe benefits.
The Step 3 file: fringe benefits
One row per benefit program or individual worker, with the cost per hour paid towards health and welfare, vacation and holiday, apprenticeship and training, pension, and any other benefit, plus the plan's name and address, its nine-digit USDOL benefit plan filing number (the number the IRS assigned to the employer or plan sponsor) and a trustee contact. NJDOL's guide says to calculate the cost per hour by dividing the yearly benefit cost per employee by 2,000 hours.
What the templates leave open
Hours format. The guide labels hours "HH.MM" but gives 8.5 as the example, which reads as decimal hours. Check how the Wage Hub shows fractional hours after an upload.
One worker, two classifications. Step 2 has one row and one classification per employee, and the guide does not say how to split one worker's gross pay and deductions across rows. PrevailReady does not guess: such a worker goes in on the Wage Hub directly.
Race code I. The guide lists I among the race codes but does not describe it.
Fringe cost per hour. NJDOL's 2,000-hour divisor is a simplification; federal Davis-Bacon rules annualize contributions over all hours worked (29 CFR 5.25). Use the method your contract and agency require.
Creating the files from your payroll
The PrevailReady app makes both CSV files from your weekly payroll export and timesheet, in NJDOL's template columns, next to the WH-347. Federal and state taxes are read from your payroll's tax columns, and New Jersey's SDI, family leave and unemployment contributions go into other deductions. Already filled the templates by hand? Run them through the free NJ Wage Hub CSV checker first.
This guide summarizes public NJDOL materials as of October 2026 and is not legal advice. Always check NJDOL's current guidance.