Pay Stub Violations & Penalties in California Labor Law

Under California employment law, an employer is required to provide specific information on an employee’s pay stub or wage statement. This includes

• hours worked,
• deductions, and
• pay rate.

If an employer leaves out certain information or includes incorrect information, they may be in violation of California labor laws and subject to a statutory penalty.

Below, our California labor and employment law attorneys discuss the following frequently asked questions about pay stub violations and employer penalties:

• 1. What are pay stub violations?
• 2. What information needs to be on my pay stub?
• 3. What if my pay stub doesn’t include “total hours worked”?
• 4. What happens if there is missing or incorrect information on my pay stub?
• 5. Can I sue my employer for not following California pay stub laws?
• 6. Can an employer in California correct the pay stub errors?

If you have further questions after reading this article, we invite you to contact us at Shouse Law Group.

1. What are pay stub violations?

Employers in California are required to provide employees with an itemized wage statement, also known as a pay stub. Pay period regulations require employers to provide pay stubs semi-monthly or at the time of each payday.¹

Pay stubs are required even if an employee is given a wage payment in cash. However, most employers provide a wage statement that is a detachable part of the employee’s

• paycheck or
• direct deposit statement.²

Pay stubs are required to include certain information about the

• employee,
• employer,
• rate of pay, and
• other information.

If a wage statement does not include this information, no pay stub is provided, or the pay stub information is incorrect, the employer may be in violation of California labor laws.³

If an employer willfully fails to provide a wage statement or the employer fails to provide an accurate and complete wage statement, the employee may be able to seek damages from the employer for each wage statement violation.⁴

“Exempt employees” are employees who are exempt from California’s wage and hour laws. However, in order to qualify as an exempt employee, an employee must meet specific duties requirements and earn a minimum salary equivalent to twice the state minimum wage based on a 40-hour workweek.³

Some non-exempt employees may also be paid a salary. Salaried non-exempt employees cannot be paid less than the state minimum wage. Salaried non-exempt employees are also protected by California wage and hour laws–including overtime laws and laws requiring meal and rest breaks.⁴

2. What information needs to be on my pay stub?

The information required to be provided in a pay stub or wage statement includes the following:

1. Gross wages earned
2. Total hours worked, including overtime hours
3. All deductions (all deductions made on written orders of the employee may be aggregated and shown as one item)
4. Net wages earned
5. The inclusive dates of the period for which the employee is paid
6. The name of the employee
7. The last four digits of the employee’s social security number (or employee identification number other than a 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 employee⁵

If the employee is paid on a piece-rate basis, the wage statement is required to show the number of piece-rate units earned and any applicable piece rate.⁶

If the employer is a temporary service employer, the rate of pay and total hours worked must be included for each temporary service assignment.⁷

3. What if my pay stub doesn’t include “total hours worked”?

For most employees, a pay stub or wage statement must include the “total hours worked by the employee.” If an employee’s pay stub does not include total hours worked, the employer may be in violation of California wage statement laws.⁸

However, employees who are exempt from overtime and minimum wage laws may be exempt from the requirement that their pay stubs show “total hours worked.” This includes the following workers:

• Employed in an executive capacity
• Employed in an administrative capacity
• Employed in a professional capacity
• Outside salespersons
• Salaried computer software professionals
• Employees in a live-in alternative to incarceration rehab facility
• Commercial fishing crew ⁹

The largest group of exempt employees are generally known as “white-collar” workers, or those employed in administrative, managerial, executive, or professional capacities.¹⁰

In order to qualify as an exempt executive, administrative, or professional employee in California, the employee must meet the following tests:

1. Be primarily engaged in executive, administrative or professional duties (generally, this requires the employee dedicate about 50% or more of his or her work time to these duties);
2. Regularly and customarily exercise discretion and independent judgment on the job; and
3. Earn a salary equivalent to at least twice the state minimum wage for full-time work (based on a 40-hour workweek).¹¹

If an employee meets the test for an exempt employee, they may be exempt from certain wage and hour laws, including the requirement that a pay stub indicates total hours worked.

4. What happens if there is missing or incorrect information on my pay stub?

If an employer has incorrect information on the wage statement or the required information is missing, the employer may be in violation of California labor laws.¹²

California labor statutes give employees a cause of action against their employers for pay stub violations, providing for

• penalties,
• attorney’s fees, and
• court costs.

However, the law also allows employers to correct some errors to avoid penalties.¹³

5. Can I sue my employer for not following California pay stub laws?

An employee who suffers an injury as a result of an employer’s intentional failure to comply with California pay stub laws is entitled to recover damages through filing a lawsuit against the employer.¹⁴

An employee is eligible for damages for the purposes of pay stub violation penalties if the employer:

• Fails to provide a wage statement; or
• Fails to provide accurate and complete wage statement information.¹⁵

In many cases, when an employer is violating California pay stub laws against one employee, they are violating labor laws against a number of employees. This may lead to a class action lawsuit involving multiple violations against employees.

The employee must be able to promptly and easily determine the necessary information from the statement alone. This means that a reasonable person would be able to readily ascertain the information without referring to other documents or information.¹⁶

This information includes:

• Amount of gross wages or net wages
• Which deductions the employer made from gross wages to determine net wages
• Name of the employer
• Address of the employer
• Name and address of the legal entity that secured the services of the employer if the employer is a farm labor contractor
• Name of the employee
• Last 4 digits of the employee’s social security number or employee identification number¹⁷

Civil penalties from a pay stub violation amount to $50 for the initial pay period and $100 per employee for each violation in a subsequent pay period. The maximum award available to an employee is $4,000.¹⁸

In addition to the pay stub violation penalties, an employee is also eligible to recover

• the court costs of bringing the lawsuit and
• reasonable attorney’s fees.¹⁹

An employee can also sue their employer for injunctive relief. This means that the employee can force the employer to follow California pay stub requirements, in addition to seeking damages.²⁰

6. Can an employer in California correct the pay stub errors?

Some pay stub violations can be corrected by an employer without having to pay penalties. A bill signed into law by Governor Brown gives employers a 33-day window to

• fix certain name and address violations and
• avoid the statutory penalties.²¹

This ability to fix pay stub violations is limited to errors in:

• The inclusive dates of the period for which the employee is paid; and
• the name and address of the legal entity that is the employer.

An employee who seeks damages for a pay stub violation files a claim under the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA).²²

Once the employer is notified of the PAGA claim, the employer then has 33 calendar days to fix the error and avoid the statutory penalties. In order to “cure” the mistakes, the employer has to provide a fully compliant itemized wage statement for each pay period prior to the notice, going back three years.²³

For questions about California pay stub violations or to discuss your case confidentially with one of our skilled California labor and employment attorneys, do not hesitate to contact us at Shouse Law Group.

We create attorney-client relationships and have local employment law offices in and around Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange County, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, San Jose, Oakland, the San Francisco Bay area, and several nearby cities.

Also see California’s Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE).

Work in Nevada? See our article on Nevada pay stub violations.

Disclaimer: Past results do not guarantee future results.

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