Use prevailing wage

Overview

Prevailing wage is a payroll system where workers on public works projects are paid predetermined rates set by federal and state governments. Rates are typically determined by collective bargaining agreements with the intention that workers on government-funded jobs are paid a competitive wage.

Prevailing wage depends on:

• Labor type: Each worker within a specific labor type is paid equally.

• Job or project service location: Rates can vary by state, county, and locality.

With the prevailing wage feature in ServiceTitan, you can:

• Create labor types for each prevailing wage work classification.

• Assign technicians a default labor type for when they work prevailing wage jobs.

• Flag jobs, projects, and locations as prevailing wage so assigned technicians are automatically paid the corresponding prevailing wage for their labor type.

• Run payroll reports for each payroll type to calculate gross pay.

Things to know

• Create a separate labor type for each prevailing wage work classification.

• Set hourly rates for labor types on the service location record. Prevailing wage rates can change depending on location.

• If a service location is flagged as prevailing wage, all jobs created for that service location are flagged as prevailing wage.

• If a project is flagged as prevailing wage, all jobs created within that project are flagged as prevailing wage.

• Coming ST-82: If a project template has Prevailing Wage turned on, projects created from that template are flagged as prevailing wage.

Configure your account

To implement prevailing wage, create labor types, assign default labor types to your technicians, and set hourly rates for prevailing wage service locations.

Create labor types

Each prevailing wage work classification should have its own labor type.

Note: You must have specific permissions enabled to access the Payroll and Labor Types sections. Contact your account administrator for details.

1. Go to the top toolbar and click Settings .

2. In the side panel, go to People > Payroll.

3. Next to Labor Types, click Edit. The Labor Type screen opens.

4. Click Create Labor Type.

5. In the Labor Type Name field, enter a name for the labor type.

6. In the Labor Type Code field, enter a code for the labor type. This code appears in reports.

7. Select the Active checkbox.

8. Under Actions, click the Checkbox icon to save the labor type.

Assign labor types to technicians

When you assign a default labor type to a technician, that technician is paid the rate for that labor type whenever they are assigned to a prevailing wage job.

Caution: Make sure to assign default labor types for all active technicians. If a technician works a prevailing wage job without being assigned a labor type, their standard hourly rate applies and their gross pay will be incorrect.

To assign a labor type:

1. Go to the top toolbar and click Settings .

2. In the side panel, go to People > Technicians.

3. Click Edit for the technician you want to assign a labor type to. The Edit Technician screen opens. 

4. Click the Payroll tab.

5. Click the Default Labor Type dropdown and select the labor type you want to assign.

6. When finished, click Save.

When the technician works on a prevailing wage job, they are paid their default labor type hourly rate set for that service location. On non-prevailing wage jobs, they are paid the rate set in the Hourly Rate field of their profile.

Set service locations for prevailing wage

As prevailing wages can vary depending on location, you set prevailing wage rates on the service location record:

1. Go to the top toolbar and click Search .

2. Click the Search dropdown and select Location. 

3. Use the filters to search for the service location you want to set prevailing wage rates for.

4. Click the location to open the service location record.

5. Click Edit to update the record.

6. Click the Payroll tab.

7. Select Mark this location as Prevailing Wage. A table of active labor types displays.

8. In the Hourly Wage fields, enter the location's prevailing wage rates for each labor type.

   Note: You can also add prevailing wage rates in bulk for flagged service locations using an XLSX template.

9. When finished, click Save.

Add prevailing wage rates in bulk

If you have several customers with prevailing wage service locations, you can enter rates in a spreadsheet application using the Locations Prevailing Wage XLSX template.

Note: Before you start, make sure that each prevailing wage service location has been edited so that Mark this location for Prevailing Wage is selected.

Export the XLSX template

First, export your service locations from ServiceTitan as an XLSX file:

1. Go to the top toolbar and click Settings .

2. In the side panel, go to Tools > Import / Export Data.

3. In the Import tab, click the Data File Type and select Locations Prevailing Wage.

4. Use the Zip Code field to export service locations for a specific ZIP code. Or, to export all service locations, leave the field blank.

5. Click Export Template. An XLSX file downloads to your computer.

Update prevailing wage rates in the XLSX template

The XLSX template is organized in three tabs:

Location tab

LaborType tab

LocationLaborType tab

To add prevailing wage rates:

1. Open the exported XLSX template in a spreadsheet application.

2. Click the LocationLaborType tab.

3. Enter hourly prevailing wage rates in the HourlyRate column.

   Note: Refer to the Location tab to match the LocationId entry to the corresponding location. Refer to the LaborType tab to match the LaborTypeId to the corresponding labor type.

   

4. When finished, save the spreadsheet file.

Import the edited XLSX template

1. Go to the top toolbar and click Settings .

2. In the side panel, go to Tools > Import / Export Data.

3. In the Import tab, click the Data File Type and select Locations Prevailing Wage.

4. Click Upload.

5. Select the edited XLSX template to upload.

6. Click Import. A notification appears letting you know the import was successful.

Book prevailing wage jobs

When you book a job for a prevailing wage service location, the job record is automatically flagged as prevailing wage.

Create prevailing wage projects

Projects help you manage multiple jobs at a service location from a single project record. When you create a project for a prevailing wage service location, you can flag the project as prevailing wage.

1. From the project record, click Edit to edit the record. 

2. Select Prevailing Wage.

3. Click Save. All jobs booked from the project are flagged as prevailing wage. 

   Coming ST-82: To skip this step for recurring prevailing wage work, turn on Prevailing Wage on a project template. Every project created from that template starts flagged as prevailing wage. For how to create project templates, see Project, job, and task templates overview.

Edit timesheets

If a technician worked a prevailing wage job in a different capacity than their default labor type or was not assigned a labor type, you can edit their timesheet.

1. Search for and open the job record for the timesheet you want to edit.

2. In the Timesheets section, click View Timesheets.

3. Click Edit for the record you want to update.

4. Click the Labor Type dropdown and select the labor type you want to assign. 

5. Make any additional edits to the record as needed. Otherwise, click Update to save the changes.

For more, see Edit technician timesheets.

Run reports

You can report on prevailing wage metrics using several report templates including the Jobs, Invoices, Project Job Costing, Master Pay File, and Master Pay File by Pay Period report templates.

Configure report columns

• When adding columns while creating a custom report, select Prevailing Wage.

• Report items that are specific for prevailing wage jobs are checked in the report results.

• Click the Filter icon for the Prevailing Wage column and select Is true from the dropdown to filter for prevailing wage items. 

Run Master Pay File reports

Master Pay File template reports on timesheet activity. Each line in the report represents a technician's timesheet event.

Note: The Master Pay File includes non-job timesheet activities including bonus and commission items and payroll adjustments.

To create a custom report for prevailing wage:

1. Go to the navigation bar and click Reports.

2. Click Create Report. The Report Builder opens.

3. Under Choose report type, click Job Costing & Payroll.

4. Under Select a report template, click Master Pay File. 

5. Under Columns to be displayed in the report, select which columns you want to include in your report.

   Note: Make sure to select Prevailing Wage and Labor Type.

6. When you're finished selecting columns, click Next. The Set Details screen opens.

7. Enter the name, category, description, and sharing details for the report.

8. Click Save. The saved report opens. 

9. Enter the dates you want to report on and select any filters you want to add.

10. Click Run Report. Your results display in a table. 

Gross pay for prevailing wage timesheet events is calculated based on the event duration, labor type, and the prevailing wage rates set for the service location of the job.

Tip: Click Edit Columns to add and remove columns. For further customization, you can also arrange and filter your results to narrow the focus of your report.

Want to learn more?

• See Stay Compliant with Permits & Regulations

• See Payroll and Timekeeping Home