Complete Fence has spent recent years moving beyond its residential and commercial roots into the more specialized territory of Solar Farms and taking on projects with tighter security, like Data Centers and compliance requirements than a typical fence line. That shift has pushed the business into new types of jobs and, with it, a broader and more varied workforce. 

Complete Fence employs nearly 120 workers. About 50 of those employees are union labor spanning roughly 20 different union locals, while the remainder make up a non-union workforce supporting the company's broader fencing operations. Managing both a unionized crew base and a non-union workforce has shaped much of how Complete Fence approaches payroll and workforce management as it has grown.

The Challenge

As Complete Fence expanded into solar and high-security fencing work, its union payroll obligations grew more complex. With roughly 20 union locals in play, the company had to track reciprocity rules for each one: determining an employee's home local versus the local where the work was actually performed, and applying the correct overtime and double-time rules for each.

Under its previous payroll processor, this was largely manual, handled on a per-employee basis rather than through any automated logic.

Certified payroll reporting carried its own strain. Complete Fence estimated that its prior system reliably handled certified payroll on only about 2 of every 10 jobs that required it, leaving a meaningful gap in coverage as the company took on more prevailing wage and government-adjacent work.

Time tracking and project management ran through a separate tool from payroll and HR, and the company handled accounting through a legacy ERP system it was already migrating away from.

Taken together, Complete Fence was managing a fragmented tech stack and union payroll rules that depended heavily on manual, per-employee upkeep to stay accurate.

Why Complete Fence Chose Lumber

Complete Fence's evaluation centered on one core requirement: a platform that could handle payroll for both its union and non-union workforces without forcing the two into the same rigid structure.

Certified payroll and union reciprocity depth stood out as the deciding factor against the company's previous payroll provider, which had not kept pace with the complexity of managing 20 union locals.

The decision involved stakeholders across Finance, HR, and Operations, reflecting how directly payroll complexity touched each part of the business.

The Solution

Complete Fence implemented Lumber's core HR, payroll, and time-tracking platform, configuring the union and non-union workforce separately to reflect their distinct pay rules. 

This replaced the company's previous combination of a standalone payroll and benefits provider and a separate time tracking and project management tool, bringing time tracking, payroll, and HR into a single system.

Complete Fence has since expanded its use of Lumber, adding the Union Agent, certified payroll and union reporting, and scheduling and dispatch. Mobile onboarding was also implemented to bring new hires into the system directly from the field, rather than through paper intake.

Results on the ground

Payroll Consolidation

Complete Fence now runs payroll for both its union and non-union workforces through a single platform, replacing a setup that previously split time tracking, payroll, and accounting across separate tools. The union and non-union workforces are each configured within Lumber, giving the Finance team one single system to work from.

Reduced Manual Union Administration, With More Confidence in Accuracy

With roughly 20 union locals in the mix, reciprocity had been one of the most labor-intensive parts of running payroll by hand. Lumber's handling of home-local versus work-local determination, along with the associated overtime and double-time rules, has reduced the amount of manual, per-employee upkeep that Complete Fence's team previously had to maintain.

The team also reports greater confidence in payroll accuracy as a result, since reciprocity now runs on programmed logic within the system rather than a formula maintained by hand in a spreadsheet.

Certified Payroll, Made Easier

Certified payroll reporting was a known gap under the company's previous system, which the team estimated covered only about 2 of every 10 applicable jobs reliably.

Since adding the Union Reporting Agent, the team describes certified payroll reporting as much easier to manage day to day.

A Product That Keeps Adapting, Backed by a Responsive Team

Complete Fence has also noticed how often the platform keeps improving. New reporting options and interface updates are rolled out on a regular basis, and the team describes pulling data out of the system as very easy, a reflection of a product that continues to be shaped around how Complete Fence actually works.

A Growing Partnership

What started as a single payroll and time tracking engagement has grown into a broader working relationship. As Complete Fence's needs around union reporting and scheduling became clearer, the company brought Lumber further into its operations, adding the Union Agent, then a more comprehensive Union Reporting Agent, and a scheduling capability alongside it. That progression reflects a level of trust built over time, with Complete Fence turning back to Lumber as new needs came up rather than looking elsewhere.

In summary, Complete Fence's work with Lumber has delivered:

• A single payroll platform covering both the union and non-union workforce
• Greater confidence in payroll accuracy, with union reciprocity now handled through programmed logic instead of manual spreadsheet formulas
• Certified payroll reporting that the team describes as much easier to manage
• Regular product improvements and responsive support from the Lumber team, with data that is easy to pull and review
• A phased rollout that grew from core payroll into union reporting and scheduling

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