When you hand a vendor cash to pay for an item you typically monitor the change, right? But how closely are you looking at your paystub? Most of us give it a quick glance at most. As a result, many mistakes made by our employers go unnoticed. California law requires specific information on each and every pay stub, and often much of that information is missing.
In addition, often these violations occur on a large scale over a lengthy period of time, impacting many employees. The law is quite clear – each and every deviation, omission, or error made on any paystub is a violation that could be denying you money that is rightfully yours. Compare your paystub to the items listed below to see if you are a potential victim.
Information Required on Your Paystub in California
- Gross amount of wages that you have earned
- The number of hours you have worked (except for workers that are salaried)
- Any deductions that were taken from your pay
- The net amount you are being paid
- The dates of your pay period
- Your name
- The last four digits of your social security number
- Employer name
- Employer address
- Your hourly rate of pay and the number of hours worked at that pay level
- The amount of sick leave that has accrued
- The number of completed pieces earned if paid on a piece-rate basis.
Typical Paystub Errors
Any error, no matter how small, could be a legal misstep by your employer. For example, if your hours are not being tracked correctly or if you have deductions that are not allowed, then you are not being paid correctly, and the company is in violation of the law.
You have a right to recover these wages. Some typical errors that might impact your pay and result in mistakes on your paystub include the following:
- Employer misclassification of you as an independent contractor as opposed to an employee
- Employer not properly or accurately tracking your hours
- Employer failing to pay (or accurately pay) overtime
- Employer miscalculating payroll deductions
- Employer failing to account for time worked off the clock
