Best Payroll Software for Union Employees 2026

What makes union payroll different

Union payroll has requirements that generic small-business payroll software often cannot meet. There are four that matter most. First, multiple pay rates by trade and job classification: a journeyman electrician and an apprentice electrician have different wage rates under the collective bargaining agreement, and those rates may differ again on a prevailing wage project. The payroll system must track which rate applies to each hour worked.

Second, union benefit fund remittances: for every hour worked, the employer typically owes contributions to health, pension, vacation, apprenticeship, and industry funds at rates specified in the CBA. These contributions must be remitted to the union trust funds on the correct schedule (weekly, monthly, or quarterly depending on the agreement). A payroll tool that cannot calculate and track these remittances creates manual work and compliance risk.

Third, certified payroll reporting: if you work on federally funded projects (covered by the Davis-Bacon Act) or state prevailing wage projects, you are required to file certified payroll reports (WH-347 form for federal) showing that each employee was paid at least the prevailing wage for their trade. Union wage rates typically meet or exceed prevailing wage rates, but the paperwork requirement is separate.

Fourth, multi-union administration: a general contractor may have carpenters, electricians, and ironworkers under three different CBAs, each with different wage scales, benefit rates, and remittance schedules. Generic payroll software typically allows only one or two pay rate tiers, not the multiple classifications a union contractor needs.

QuickBooks Payroll Premium: best for most small union contractors

QuickBooks Payroll Premium ($85/month + $10/employee/month) is the most commonly used payroll solution among small and mid-size union contractors because it integrates directly with QuickBooks accounting, generates certified payroll reports (via the construction module), and supports multiple pay rates per employee through custom pay types.

Union remittances in QuickBooks require setup: you create a deduction/contribution item for each fund (health, pension, vacation, etc.) with the rate from your CBA, assign it to the relevant employees, and QuickBooks calculates the employer contribution on each payroll run. The remittances are not sent automatically, you still need to write the check or set up an ACH to each fund, but the amounts are calculated and tracked within the software.

Certified payroll: QuickBooks's certified payroll report generates the WH-347 in a format that most contracting officers accept. For state-level certified payroll (which may have different column formats than the federal WH-347), a third-party certified payroll app like LCPtracker or Procore Certified Payroll may be needed to pull data from QuickBooks.

The limitation: QuickBooks Payroll handles union payroll workably, not elegantly. Setup requires creating separate pay items for each classification and fund. For a contractor with two unions and six trade classifications, the initial configuration takes several hours and benefits from working with an accountant familiar with construction payroll.

Payroll4Construction: built for union contractors

Payroll4Construction is purpose-built for construction and union payroll. It handles prevailing wage calculations, multi-union CBAs, benefit fund remittances, and certified payroll reporting without the custom-configuration burden of adapting a general-purpose payroll tool.

Key advantages over QuickBooks: automatic remittance tracking by union local, built-in certified payroll reports in multiple state formats (not just WH-347), and job cost allocation that ties hours to specific project cost codes. For a contractor working on public projects in multiple states, each with different prevailing wage requirements, Payroll4Construction is considerably more efficient.

The practical trade-off: Payroll4Construction does not have QuickBooks's ecosystem depth. If your accounting team lives in QuickBooks Desktop or Online, data needs to export/import between systems rather than sitting in one integrated platform. For contractors with a dedicated payroll administrator who can manage the export workflow, this is manageable. For owner-operators doing their own books, the friction adds up.

Pricing is custom and typically higher than QuickBooks Payroll, starting around $200–$400/month depending on employee count and features. Request a demo quote for your specific union mix and project types.

Gusto: best for mixed union/non-union teams

Gusto supports multiple pay rates per employee, which handles the basic union wage scale requirement. You can set a base rate and override it per pay period if an employee works at different classifications. The employee-facing portal is polished, making onboarding and pay stub access easy for crews.

What Gusto does not handle: automated union fund remittance calculations tied to CBAs, built-in certified payroll reports, and multi-union CBA management. Remittances require manual calculation from payroll totals. Certified payroll reports are not natively generated and require a third-party tool or manual WH-347 completion.

Gusto works best for a company that has one union CBA covering a small number of classifications, and where the administrative team can handle remittance calculations manually from the payroll summary. For a residential HVAC contractor with one plumbers union agreement, Gusto is sufficient. For a general contractor managing three trades and multiple public projects, the manual remittance burden becomes unsustainable.

Frequently asked questions

What is a prevailing wage, and do I need certified payroll software for it? Prevailing wages are the minimum wage rates set by the US Department of Labor (or state labor departments) for specific construction trades in specific geographic areas. If your project receives federal funding or qualifies under the Davis-Bacon Act, you must pay prevailing wages and file certified payroll reports. The WH-347 form records each employee's hours, pay rate, trade classification, and benefit deductions. Certified payroll software automates this form; without it, you complete the WH-347 manually each week.

Can QuickBooks generate certified payroll reports automatically? QuickBooks Payroll Premium and Enterprise include a certified payroll report that produces a WH-347-compatible output. It requires that jobs be set up with the correct wage rates and classifications in QuickBooks. Many contractors use this for federal certified payroll and supplement with LCPtracker or similar for state-specific formats.

What happens if I underpay on union remittances? Under-remittance to union trust funds is an ERISA compliance issue. Underpayments accrue interest and can trigger audits by the union trust fund administrator. Consistent underpayment can result in debarment from union agreements. Accurate remittance calculation is not optional compliance; it is a core payroll requirement for union contractors.

How do I handle union employees who work at different pay rates on the same project? Most union agreements have rate tables by classification (journeyman, apprentice level 1-4, etc.) and sometimes by work type (regular time, shift differential). Each hour worked must be tagged to the correct classification rate. In QuickBooks, this requires a separate payroll run or pay adjustment for hours at each rate. Purpose-built construction payroll tools handle this through daily timesheet entry tied to cost codes and classifications.