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Effective January 1, 2013, the failure to provide an accurate wage statement can lead to an award of stiff statutory damages plus attorney's fees and costs.
Under the new law, an employee will be presumed to have suffered injury and in turn be entitled to statutory damages if a California employer is found to have either (1) failed to provide a wage statement; or (2) failed to provide one or more of its employees with an "accurate and complete" wage statement (payroll stub) pursuant to Labor Code §226 and the employee cannot promptly without reference to other documents or information determine any of the following from the wage statement provided: (1) gross or net wages paid during the pay period, (2) total hours worked (unless salaried and exempt from overtime), (3) hourly rates and corresponding hours worked at each rates, (4) the number of piece rate units and rate (if applicable), (5) total deductions, (6) the actual dates included in the pay period, (7) the employer's full legal name and address, (8) the employee's name, and (9) the last 4 digits of the employee's social security number, or employee identification number.
Absent proof that the omission or misinformation on a wage statement (or payroll stub) was an "isolated and unintentional payroll error due to a clerical or inadvertent mistake," the employee may sue the employer for a reasonable attorneys fees and costs plus a statutory penalty of $50 for the initial pay period in which the violation occurred, and a $100 penalty per employee per pay period for each subsequent violation up to $4,000.
Effective January 1, 2013, Labor Code Section 226 further provides that an itemized wage statement "copy", for purposes of the Labor Code 226′s requirement that an employer retain a "copy" of the wage statements for at least 3 years after the employee's termination can include a computer-generated record rather than an actual duplicate copy.
Footnotes:
1 Security services companies that are licensed by the Department of Consumer Affairs and solely provide security services are specifically excluded from the above requirement imposed upon temporary services employers.
Tags: pay stubs, wage statement
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Disclaimer: The information presented on this web site was prepared by Melissa C. Marsh for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. The information provided in my articles and alerts should not be relied upon, or used as a substitute for professional legal advice from an attorney you retain to advise or represent you. Your use of this Internet site does not create an attorney- client relationship. Transmission of this article is not intended to create, and receipt of it does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship. All uses of the contents of this site, other than personal uses, are prohibited. You may print or email a copy of any information posted on this web site for your own personal, non-commercial, use, but you may not publish any of the articles or posts on this web site without the Express Written Permission of Melissa C. Marsh.
Located in Los Angeles, California, the Law Office of Melissa C. Marsh handles business law and corporation law matters as a lawyer for clients throughout Los Angeles including Burbank, Sherman Oaks, Studio City, Valley Village, North Hollywood, Woodland Hills, Hollywood, West LA as well as Riverside County, San Fernando, Ventura County, and Santa Clarita. Attorney Melissa C. Marsh has considerable experience handling business matters both nationally and internationally. We routinely assist our clients with incorporation, forming a California corporation, forming a California llc, partnership, annual minutes, shareholder meetings, director meetings, getting a taxpayer ID number (EIN), buying a business, selling a business, commercial lease review, employee disputes, independent contractors, construction, and personal matters such as preparing a will, living trust, power of attorney, health care directive, and more.