Prevailing Wage Specialist

With offices in Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Ohio, Pepper Construction is a national general contracting and construction management firm that primarily serves the private sector. Pepper Construction provides clients the experience and resources of a national company, combined with the hands-on approach of a local company.

Position Summary:

The Prevailing Wage Specialist plays a vital role in ensuring compliance with prevailing wage laws and regulations for Pepper’s Self-Perform group (SPG). This team-member is responsible for coordinating with field leadership, project teams, payroll, accounting, human resources and compliance staff, along with any SPG subcontractors, collecting prevailing wage documents and maintain accurate records in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local prevailing wage requirements, including Davis-Bacon requirements where applicable.

Key Responsibilities:

• Export Crew Time weekly time for SPG employee payroll to review and assign prevailing wage rates according to trade class and county for submission to payroll.
• Review SPG weekly certified payroll reports from payroll to verify pay rates and fringe benefits for accuracy.
• Address any prevailing wage discrepancies or disputes promptly.
• Compile for signature, weekly payroll reports and save electronically.
• Create and maintain SPG Prevailing Wage Notice to Employees at the time of hire, rate or benefit change for prevailing wage projects.
• Facilitate communication with SPG subcontractors at start of prevailing wage projects for the purpose of determining project documentation requirements.

• Prepare, review and electronically file weekly certified payroll reports for SPG and any SPG subcontractors for monthly submission and update the project prevailing wage tracker.
• Review Pepper’s self-perform group weekly payroll reports to verify pay rates and fringe benefits for accuracy.
• Communicate Ohio Dept. of Commerce prevailing wage rate notification updates to Pepper SPG subs as they occur.
• Back-up for the Compliance Specialist with of review of subcontractor certified payroll when needed, while maintaining primary focus on SPG workforce.
• Assist the Compliance Specialist with audits, agency inquiries, owner reviews, and internal compliance checks by gathering documentation and explaining certified payroll, wage classification, and field labor processes.
• Maintain confidentiality of payroll, employee, field production, and project information.
• Compile and submit monthly State of Ohio I-29 reporting.
• Additional duties as requested and assigned

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE and skills:

• Associate or bachelor’s degree in accounting, business administration, human resources, or a related field, preferred.
• Two or more years of certified payroll, construction payroll, labor compliance, job cost accounting, project administration, or field operations support experience preferred.
• Experience supporting a general contractor, self-perform contractor, specialty contractor, or public works construction environment, strongly preferred.
• Working knowledge of prevailing wage laws, certified payroll reporting, Davis-Bacon requirements, fringe benefits, apprenticeships, worker classifications, overtime rules, and jobsite documentation, preferred.
• Experience working with payroll systems, ERP/job cost platforms, timekeeping systems, online labor compliance portals, and Microsoft Office, especially Excel.
• Ability to interpret contracts, wage determinations, field time records, labor cost reports, reporting instructions, and agency requirements.
• Strong attention to detail and commitment to payroll, labor, and job cost accuracy.
• Excellent organizational and time-management skills with the ability to meet weekly payroll and certified reporting deadlines.
• Clear written and verbal communication skills with the ability to work effectively with field leaders, craft employees, project teams, and agency representatives.
• Analytical problem-solving skills and ability to reconcile timecard, payroll, classification, fringe, and cost coding discrepancies.
• Working understanding of construction terminology, self-perform scopes, craft classifications, and field labor workflows.
• Ability to work independently while collaborating with accounting, payroll, operations, estimating, project management, and field teams.
• Professional judgment and discretion when handling confidential employee, payroll, and project information.

Pepper Construction is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer.
Please note: Pepper does not sponsor work visas.