California isn’t the only state to require that employers provide pay stubs to employees, but failure to do so accurately and in full can cost employers. There’s a long list of information that pay stubs need to provide to comply with California labor law:
Employee name
The final four digits of Social Security Number (SSN) or Employee ID Number (EIN)
Name and address of the employer
The start and end dates of the pay period
Gross wages (without deductions)
Total hours worked by the employee (for non-exempt employees)
Breakdown of hourly rates for regular vs. overtime hours
All deductions (tax withholdings, 401(k) contributions)
Net wages earned (gross wages minus deductions)
Amount of sick leave and vacation time accrued
When wage statements are inaccurate or not provided at all, employers can be subject to fines starting at $50 per employee for a first offense and rising to $100 for further violations, up to a maximum of $4,000 per employee—or more, if an employee is deemed to have suffered damages. The Labor Commissioner can also impose a further civil fine of $250 per employee for a first violation and $1000 for further violations. Employers also need to be sure that:
Employees are paid at least every two weeks
Checks are received within 10-11 days of payday
If employees quit, they must receive their final paycheck within 72 hours of giving notice, while terminated employees must receive their final paycheck, including wages and any accrued vacation, immediately upon termination. Employees are entitled to a full day’s salary for every day these final paychecks are delayed, up to a maximum of 30 days.
HR Simplistic makes it easy to produce fully itemized wage statements which include all the relevant information required by California labor law and any industry-specific regulations. Rather than having to collect the data yourself, the process is automated, so you can always get your paychecks out on time and error-free, and store all wage statements for your records. Contact us today for more information.