Is Your Pay Stub Compliant?

“I need to provide a live check to a terminating employee and someone mentioned I need to also provide a pay stub. Does it need anything beside the hours he worked?”

Your HR Survival Tip

As you may know, California is very picky about a lot of employment topics and the employee’s “wage statement” (pay stub) is one of them. Review your wage statements and confirm they include the following (for that pay period):

• Dates covered by the pay period (e.g., 7/1/2016-7/15/2016)
• The legal name and address of the employer
• The employee’s name
• The last 4 digits of the employee’s social security number (NOT the full number)
• Gross earnings
• A separate line for each type of pay. For example: (line 1) 30 regular hours @ $11.00/hour, (line 2) 8 hours vacation @ $11.00/hour, and (line 3) 2 hours travel pay @ $10.00/hour.
• If you pay piece-rate, you must provide a separate line for each piece-rate (e.g., 4 piece-rate items @ $20.00/item)
• If you pay piece-rate, you must also show the pay for non-productive time (rest breaks, etc.)
• All deductions, including taxes, insurances, etc.
• Net wages (after all those deductions)
• The available balance of the employee’s sick leave (but this can be provided on a separate document each pay period)
• The PTO/vacation available balance (not required but highly recommended)

All of this information must appear on the “face” of the wage statement. You can’t refer to another document somewhere. Failure to provide this wage statement with every check is a $250 fine per employee the first time and $1,000 per employee for subsequent violations. It adds up fast!

It isn’t that hard to be compliant because payroll systems are designed to meet this standard. You are responsible, not the payroll company, for ensuring your wage statements are correct. Take another look to make sure you have everything listed.