WeeklyCertified / State rules / Certified Payroll in Minnesota: Agency-Directed Filing Without a Portal
Certified Payroll in Minnesota: Agency-Directed Filing Without a Portal
What are the certified payroll rules in Minnesota?
Minnesota requires prevailing wages when estimated project cost exceeds $2,500 for a single trade or $25,000 for multiple trades. There is no statewide portal: certified payroll goes to the contracting agency, generally within 14 days after each pay period on state-grant projects. Whether a WH-347-equivalent is accepted depends on the agency.
Minnesota is the exception among big prevailing-wage states: no statewide form and no portal. Each contracting agency, with MnDOT's Labor Compliance unit as the largest, sets its own submission process, so the first question on every Minnesota job is where this project's payroll goes.
The rules at a glance
| State law | Minnesota Statutes sections 177.41 to 177.44 |
| Threshold | Estimated total project cost over $2,500 (single trade) or $25,000 (more than one trade) |
| Form / format | No single statewide form; DLI provides templates, and reports go to the contracting agency or project owner |
| Where it goes | None statewide; MnDOT Labor Compliance handles trunk-highway work (link) |
| How often | Per pay period; within 14 days after the end of each pay period on state-grant projects |
| Records kept | Owners and grantees maintain records at least 3 years after final payment |
| Who administers it | Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry |
Does the federal WH-347 work in Minnesota?
Sometimes. Minnesota mandates no specific state form or portal, so a report equivalent to the WH-347 that carries the required Minnesota data is generally workable, but individual agencies, notably MnDOT, prescribe their own process. Confirm with the contracting agency before your first filing.
Penalties
Violations are misdemeanors with fines up to $700 and up to 90 days, each day a separate offense, and payments can be withheld to cure violations.
Federal jobs in Minnesota still mean WH-347
State rules govern state-funded work. The moment a project is federally funded or assisted, the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts apply and the weekly WH-347 with its Statement of Compliance is the filing, regardless of what Minnesota requires on its own jobs. Many contractors run both systems side by side on different projects, which is exactly why knowing which regime a given contract sits under is week-zero work (see the first-job checklist).
The free WeeklyCertified generator prepares the federal form with your wage determination's rates pulled live and the fringe and overtime math done to the cent.
Questions
Does the federal WH-347 satisfy Minnesota requirements?
Sometimes. Minnesota mandates no specific state form or portal, so a report equivalent to the WH-347 that carries the required Minnesota data is generally workable, but individual agencies, notably MnDOT, prescribe their own process. Confirm with the contracting agency before your first filing.
How often is certified payroll due in Minnesota?
Per pay period; within 14 days after the end of each pay period on state-grant projects. Records: kept Owners and grantees maintain records at least 3 years after final payment.
Who enforces prevailing wage in Minnesota?
Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. Violations are misdemeanors with fines up to $700 and up to 90 days, each day a separate offense, and payments can be withheld to cure violations.