Employees Must be Provided with Accurate Wage Statements

California Labor Code section 226 provides that semimonthly, or at the time of each payment of wages, employers must provide their employees, either as a detachable part of the check, draft, or voucher paying the employee’s wages, or separately when wages are paid by personal check or cash, an accurate itemized statement in writing showing the following:

(1) gross wages earned

(2) total hours worked by the employee, except for any employee whose compensation is solely based on a salary and who is exempt from payment of overtime under subdivision (a) of Section 515 or any applicable order of the Industrial Welfare Commission

(3) the number of piece-rate units earned and any applicable piece rate if the employee is paid on a piece-rate basis

(4) all deductions, provided that all deductions made on written orders of the employee may be aggregated and shown as one item

(5) net wages earned

(6) the dates of the period for which the employee is paid

(7) the name of the employee and only the last four digits of his or her social security number

(8) the name and address of the legal entity that is the employer

(9) all applicable hourly rates in effect during the pay period and the corresponding number of hours worked at each hourly rate by the employee.

An employee who is not provided with an accurate itemized statement including the above information due to the employer’s knowing and intentional failure is entitled to recover the greater of all actual damages or fifty dollars ($50) for the initial pay period in which a violation occurs and one hundred dollars ($100) per employee for each violation in a subsequent pay period, up to four thousand dollars ($4,000), and an award of costs and reasonable attorney’s fees.

An employer must allow an employee to inspect or copy records related to the employee’s employment within 21 days of an employee’s request. ​

If you have questions about whether your employer is providing you with accurate wage statements, please contact us.