If you run payroll for a contractor doing prevailing wage work in New York, 2026 probably changed your week. Certified payroll is no longer something you keep in a drawer until an agency asks for it. It now goes to the state online, on a schedule, for every covered job.

For a lot of payroll teams, that has turned into hours of typing the same names, rates, and deductions into a state website. This guide explains what the rule actually requires, why it takes so long, and the faster option the state already offers that many contractors don't know how to use.

What New York Changed

Starting January 1, 2026, contractors and subcontractors working on projects covered by Article 8 of the New York State Labor Law must submit certified payroll through the NYS Department of Labor's Certified Payroll portal.

A few points catch people off guard:

  • It covers primes and subs. If you sub on a covered job, you file your own payroll.
  • Union and non-union both report. Being signatory to a union doesn't get you out of it.
  • It's not only public work. The DOL says it includes public work, certain privately owned projects covered by prevailing wage under Section 224-a, and certain renewable energy projects under Section 224-d.
  • Existing jobs count. Projects that started in 2025 or earlier still need payroll for all work done in 2026. You don't need to go back and file payrolls from before January 1, 2026.
  • Your GC's rules don't matter here. Even if the general contractor doesn't ask for certified payroll, the law still requires you to submit it.

All of this comes from the DOL's Electronic Certified Payroll FAQ.

The Deadline and the Penalty

Payroll has to be submitted at least every 30 days, counted from the project start date. The portal shows your due dates on the contractor dashboard.

You also have to report weeks when no work was done. The portal has a way to mark a pause of several weeks so you're not entering each empty week by hand.

According to the DOL's Contractor User Guide, missing required certified payroll can bring penalties of $100 a day after a 14 day grace period. On top of that, contractors tell me payments on their state funded jobs stall when reporting falls behind. That's when the owner starts asking payroll what's going on.

Why It Takes So Long

Each weekly payroll in the portal needs a lot of detail for every worker: personal information, address, work classification, pay rate, hours by day, benefits, and deductions.

Now multiply that. One electrician who touches three projects in a week shows up on three separate payrolls. A shop with 15 workers spread across several jobs can easily spend a full day or more each week just keying data in.

Here's what I keep hearing from payroll people:

  • "I'm typing the same names and deductions every single week."
  • "It's about 20 minutes per worker, per job, and some of my guys hit five jobs a week."
  • "We didn't know this was mandatory until we missed a deadline."

The portal does let you copy a prior week's payroll, which helps a little. But you still have to check and change hours, rates, and deductions for every person, every week. And if the portal has problems near a due date, you're stuck waiting with no extra time on the clock.

The Faster Way: XML Bulk Upload

The state built a shortcut, and most contractors skip it because the instructions are technical.

Instead of typing each worker in, you can upload one XML file per project, per work week. The portal reads the file and fills in the whole payroll for you. The DOL explains the file layout in its Bulk Upload Formatting Guide, and you can download the official file template (the NYDOL_CertPayroll.xsd file) and a sample from the Electronic Payroll page.

What you need to know before you try it:

  • XML only. The portal doesn't accept CSV files or spreadsheets.
  • One project, one week per file. Each file needs the project name and PRC number and the week ending date.
  • Every field the portal asks for has to be in the file. That includes addresses, daily hours, deductions, and supplemental benefit payments.
  • Start with an empty week. You can only upload to a payroll week with no workers entered yet. If you started typing, finish by hand or delete those entries first.
  • Errors come back as a list. If the file fails, the portal tells you what to fix, and you upload it again.

Once the upload works, you review the week, check the declaration boxes, attach any supplemental benefit paperwork, and submit.

Why Contractors Get Stuck on XML

The idea is simple. Getting there is the hard part.

Most payroll systems don't export straight into the state's format. Classifications, fringe amounts, and deductions have to land in exactly the right fields, or the upload fails. People try it once, get a screen of error messages, and go back to typing because at least that works.

That's a shame, because a working export turns hours of entry into a few minutes:

  1. Run payroll as you normally do.
  2. Export the week's data and turn it into the state's XML format.
  3. Upload, review, and submit.

It's the same steps whether you have one worker or a hundred, on one job or ten.

Who Should Care Most

This matters most if you are:

  • The payroll person catching heat because jobs aren't getting paid
  • An owner trying to figure out why state work is suddenly so slow to pay
  • A union or open shop taking on public work in New York for the first time
  • Using a big payroll provider that hasn't set up an Article 8 export yet

Contractors based outside New York aren't exempt either. If you do Article 8 work in the state, you need to be registered in the Public Work Contractor and Subcontractor Registry and submit electronically.

FAQ

Do I have to file certified payroll for weeks with no work?

Yes. The DOL requires you to report no-work weeks in the portal. If a job is on hold for a while, you can mark the pause instead of entering each week.

What do I need to log in to the Certified Payroll portal?

You need an NY.gov account. Have your project's PRC number ready too, since each project and each XML file is tied to it.

Can I upload a spreadsheet instead of typing everything?

No. The portal only accepts XML files built to the DOL's format. Spreadsheets and CSV files won't upload.

Does this apply to Article 9 building service work?

No. The DOL says electronic submission is required for Article 8 construction work, not Article 9 building service work.

Want Help Getting Off the Keyboard?

If Article 8 reporting is eating your week, you don't have to keep typing it in by hand. Book a short call and we can talk through your setup and what it would take to get your payroll into a clean upload.