Hours & Wage CSV Checker (Offline)

Did your Hours & Wage upload fail?

This tool will help you identify problems in your failed upload. It checks your file against the same rules LaborFirst uses — formatting, SSNs, names, wages, hours, and more — and gives you a row-by-row list of what to fix.

Haven't started from the template yet? If you're building your file from scratch, or typing column headers in by hand, start from the official Hours & Wage Header Template (CSV) instead. It already has the exact 16 column headers LaborFirst expects, in the correct order, with no extra spaces or hidden formatting issues — the kind of thing that's invisible in Excel but can still fail an upload. Download it, keep the header row exactly as provided, and add your employee data underneath it.

File format: LaborFirst only accepts standard .csv (Comma delimited) files. CSV UTF-8, CSV (Macintosh), and CSV (MS-DOS) exports are not accepted — re-save your file as "CSV (Comma delimited)" from your spreadsheet program if you're not sure which format you have.

Is your file a .csv (comma delimited) file?

Check the file extension. The file extension is a short group of letters at the end of a file name, like .csv or .xlsx. If you don't see it, look at the file in File Explorer — the "Type" column will say something like "Microsoft Excel Comma Separated Values File" for a .csv.

That's the most common cause of a failed upload — most people's files fail because they're trying to upload a .xls or .xlsx file. LaborFirst only accepts CSV (Comma delimited).

To fix it: open your file in Excel, choose File → Save As, and in the file-type dropdown pick "CSV (Comma delimited) (*.csv)" — not "CSV UTF-8", "CSV (Macintosh)", or "CSV (MS-DOS)". Then come back and continue with the new .csv file.

Upload the file that failed

Choose the same .csv file you tried to submit to LaborFirst. It's checked right here in your browser — results appear automatically on the next page.

Drag and drop your .csv file here

or

Fix your file

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Upload your fixed file to LaborFirst

Nice work. Head back to the LaborFirst portal and upload your corrected file — remember to save it as CSV (Comma delimited) before you do.

If it still doesn't go through: no worries — sometimes fixing one issue reveals another. Run your updated file through this checker again and see if anything new comes up. If it passes here but LaborFirst still won't accept it, first visit the Hours & Wage Knowledge Base and review the Checker Limitations section — your issue may be a known gap in what this tool can catch. Still stuck? Contact PFML@delaware.gov and describe the error you're seeing. Please don't attach your file to the email unless they ask for it — it contains SSNs and wage information.

Have feedback on this checker? Found a bug, or a check that should be added? Let us know via this short form — it helps us improve the tool for the next filing.