Labor Compliance Management Software

Compliance management software helps organizations like agencies and contractors adhere to a wide range of regulations and standards for publicly funded projects. For instance, this type of software, such as eComply Labor Management Software, is used to track and manage labor compliance initiatives such as prevailing wage, workforce utilization, and on-site activities. For public works projects, compliance management software is a crucial tool for ensuring contractors and agencies adhere to complex labor laws. Here’s why compliance management software is important:

• Eliminates Manual Processes and Human Error: The software eliminates paper and allows for electronically generated Certified Payroll Reports (CPRs). This automation dramatically cuts down on the tedious work of manual data entry and helps identify mathematical errors and omissions before they become a real problem.
• Simplifies Data Management and Access: With a web-based, cloud-hosted solution, such as eComply Labor Compliance, project records are centralized and secure. This makes it easy for prime contractors to access and review CPRs from their subcontractors. For auditors, it simplifies the process by allowing users to grant them direct access to the software instead of transmitting physical files.
• Maintains Regulatory Adherence: A reliable solution checks submitted CPRs against integrated wage databases to flag potential areas of non-compliance. It also helps ensure workers are paid the correct prevailing wages and that apprentice-to-journeyman ratios are correct. A dedicated team can even monitor and update wage determinations from federal, state, and local agencies.
• Reduces Risk and Ensures Audit Readiness: Non-compliance can lead to significant penalties, including fines, legal issues, and debarment from future contracts. Compliance software helps agencies and contractors avoid these consequences by automating tasks and providing real-time tracking. The centralized, secure system also keeps users audit-ready by retaining records for the required duration, such as the three-year retention period mandated by the Davis-Bacon Act.

Compliance management software, such as eComply Labor Compliance, is designed to automate and streamline the complex processes of adhering to various regulations and policies. It replaces manual, paper-based workflows with a secure, cloud-based platform.

Here’s a breakdown of how compliance management software works:

• Data Automation and Entry: The software allows for electronic submission of documents like Certified Payroll Reports (CPRs), eliminating the need for manual, paper forms. It can integrate with a contractor’s existing payroll system, enabling them to upload files and automate data entry.
• Automated Verification and Flagging: When CPRs are submitted, the system automatically cross-checks the data against its integrated wage and rate databases. This allows it to immediately flag any discrepancies or areas of non-compliance, such as underpayments, incorrect apprentice-to-journeyman ratios, or other issues.
• Regulatory Updates: A key feature is the maintenance of up-to-date wage determinations. A dedicated team monitors and updates the system with changes from federal, state, and local regulations, including pre-increases and addendums, at no extra cost.
• Reporting and Analysis: The compliance management software provides a wide range of standard and customizable reports. These reports can track metrics like workforce utilization goals, including minority and women-owned business participation, and provide geographical analysis. The ability to pull data directly from CPRs allows for the creation of reports in seconds that would have previously taken weeks.
• Centralized and Secure Data: All project, employee, and subcontractor documentation can be uploaded and managed directly within the system. The platform is secure and can be accessed from anywhere, and it simplifies the process for auditors who can be granted permissions to access records directly.
• Unified Solution: A compliance management solution, such as B2Gnow, provides agencies and contractors with enhanced tools to manage prevailing wage labor compliance requirements alongside their small, local, and diverse business program goals, providing agencies and contractors with a more efficient and comprehensive compliance management solution for public infrastructure projects.

The key features of compliance management software are designed to streamline and automate labor compliance for public agencies and contractors. Here are the key features of compliance management software: 

• Certified Payroll Reporting (CPR): The software allows for the electronic generation of Certified Payroll Reports (CPRs), which eliminates the need for manual, paper-based forms. It automatically checks submitted CPRs against wage databases and highlights areas of non-compliance for review. This helps contractors generate electronic CPRs for simple submission, while administrators can easily view, approve, or reject them and provide immediate feedback.
• Wage and Rate Management: A compliance management system, such as eComply, includes a dedicated wage and rate team that monitors and updates the software to ensure it’s current with changes from federal, state, and local prevailing wage regulations. This service, including pre-increases and addendums, is provided at no extra cost.
• Workforce Utilization Tracking: Compliance management software can track compliance with goals for minority, women-owned, and disadvantaged businesses (M/W/DBE), as well as other workforce utilization goals and small business participation measures. The software can also identify employees working overtime across multiple projects to flag potential non-compliance issues.
• Powerful Reporting: The software offers access to a large number of standard reports, along with Power Analytics (powered by MicroSoft Power BI). Reports can be created in seconds with data pulled directly from CPRs.
• Flexible and Configurable: A best-in-class compliance management solution, such as eComply, is highly flexible and configurable. The solution allows for tailored workflows to meet organizations’ unique needs. 
• Data Integration and Automation: The software can interface with payroll and vendor management providers. Most notably, eComply Labor Management and B2Gnow Vendor Management provide users with a unified solution for efficient and comprehensive compliance management. 
• Security and Accessibility: A quality compliance management solution is a secure, web-based platform that can be accessed from anywhere. It provides advanced data security, including SSL certificates and SQL server-based encryption, to protect sensitive information. It also allows for the assignment of access roles to control who can view, edit, and manage project details.

Compliance management software is essential for a wide range of organizations, particularly those involved in federally funded projects or other public works that are subject to prevailing wage regulations. The eComply solution is specifically designed to serve public agencies and contractors who must manage these complex labor compliance requirements.

Public agencies, including states, departments of transportation, airports, housing authorities, and local governments, require compliance software to manage prevailing wage, certified payroll, and workforce utilization requirements. The eComply platform is designed to help these agencies:

• Enforce Compliance: The software helps agencies ensure that contractors and subcontractors comply with federal Davis-Bacon requirements, as well as state and local prevailing wage laws and living wage ordinances.
• Automate Processes: It streamlines the review and approval of certified payrolls (CPRs) by automatically checking submissions against an integrated wage rate database and flagging non-compliance issues.
• Manage Data and Reporting: The system provides tools for tracking various metrics, such as apprentice-to-journeyman ratios, and generating reports. The eComply solution also offers over 160 standard reports and an ad-hoc reporting tool.
• Support Stakeholders: eComply provides support for both agency staff and contractors.

Contractors and subcontractors on projects that receive federal funding must adhere to prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements. Non-compliance can lead to severe penalties, including fines, legal action, and debarment from future federal contracts. Compliance software like eComply helps contractors:

• Simplify Payroll Reporting: It allows them to generate electronic certified payrolls for easy submission, replacing manual, paper-based processes.
• Ensure Accuracy: The software helps contractors “check their work” for mathematical errors, omissions, or misinterpretations of the law before submitting CPRs. This helps them pay workers correctly and avoid discrepancies that could lead to penalties.
• Centralize Data: A web-based solution allows for all records to be stored in the cloud, mitigating the need to transmit records and simplifying access for auditors. The system also helps contractors manage prevailing and non-prevailing wage projects and upload all necessary project, employee, and subcontractor documentation.
• Automate Tasks: It can automate data entry by integrating with popular payroll providers or allowing contractors to upload files from their payroll systems.

For organizations that already use the B2Gnow solution, the integration with eComply provides a unified solution for managing both labor compliance and diversity goals. This “bettertogether” integration offers additional benefits, such as:

• Single Sign-On (SSO): Users can access both systems with a single login.
• Data Sharing: The systems can share contract compliance data and vendor certification information, ensuring data consistency and enhanced transparency across both platforms.
• Combined Reporting: New reports and dashboards in Microsoft Power BI combine data from both solutions to provide a comprehensive view of a project’s contract compliance and prevailing wage status.

Compliance Management software provides the ability to track, monitor, and report on programs to meet regulatory requirements. Here are some of the benefits that compliance management software, such as eComply, can provide:

• Regulatory Compliance: Ensures adherence to all relevant prevailing wage laws and regulations.
• Accurate Wage Calculation: Provides precise wage determinations based on current data.
• Efficient Data Management: Streamlines handling of extensive payroll and project information.
• Automated Reporting: Generates timely and accurate compliance reports with ease.
• Subcontractor Oversight: Facilitates thorough verification and auditing of subcontractor compliance.
• Simple Interface: Leads to quick and easy deployments.
• Seamless Integration: A Single Sign-On (SSO), bi-directional data integration, and shared reporting create a unified platform between B2Gnow contract diversity and eComply prevailing wage labor compliance data.

Some software products aren’t compatible with other software. When looking for compliance management software, look for one that integrates with different types of systems. B2Gnow offers a REST Web Services API for seamless integration with in-house systems. Also, be sure the software vendor has deep experience implementing their software with organizations such as yours. Once implemented, the software vendor should provide training and other tools to help their clients get up and running quickly. B2Gnow works with each client to fit the B2Gnow solution into existing systems, such as financial, procurement, and ERM.

Compliance management software is invaluable for helping with audits by transforming the process from a manual, error-prone task into an efficient, streamlined workflow.

• Centralized and Secure Record Keeping: A key component of prevailing wage compliance is the record retention requirement. The Davis-Bacon Act, for example, requires that contractors maintain records for at least three years after the completion of a project. An auditor can request these records at any time. With a web-based, cloud-hosted solution, all certified payroll reports (CPRs) and related documents live in one centralized location. This eliminates the physical storage and manual filing of hard copies. Instead of having to physically transmit records, you can grant an auditor permission to access the software directly from the web.
• Automated Compliance Checks: The software drastically reduces the risk of violations by “checking your work” for you. A reliable software solution can identify mistakes before they become a real problem. It automatically checks submitted CPRs against an integrated rate database and highlights areas of non-compliance. This helps catch mathematical errors, omissions, or misunderstandings of the laws. It also helps ensure all projects, whether federal, state, or local, meet their specific requirements and accepted CPR formats. For prime contractors, the software can automatically check the validity of all their subcontractors’ CPRs.
• Simplified Data and Reporting: Instead of relying on generic CPR templates, a robust solution can handle the specific, and often different, requirements of various requesting bodies. It automates data entry through integrations with popular payroll providers or by allowing you to upload files from your existing payroll system. The eComply solution, for example, offers over 160 standard reports as well as Power Analytics (powered by MicroSoft Power BI), allowing users to generate reports in seconds that previously took weeks to create manually. This ensures you have the necessary documentation and reports ready for an auditor at a moment’s notice, improving overall audit readiness.