Under the California Labor Code, employers are required to adhere to various wage and hour requirements for benefit of employees. Indeed, employers must provide employees with specific information concerning the wages they are paid, and failure to do so may result in legal penalties, including a potential wage and hour class action.
Pursuant to California Labor Code Section 226(a), employers must provide the following information to their employees at least twice a month, and at the time of payment of wages:
(1) The gross wages earned by the employee during the pay period;
(2) The total hours the employee worked during the pay period (except for “exempt” employees who are paid a salary 
and who are not entitled to overtime compensation);
(3) The number of piece-rate units earned and any applicable piece rate if the employee is paid on a piece-rate basis;
(4) All deductions from the employee’s gross wages;
(5) The net wages earned by the employee;
(6) The dates of the pay period for which the employee is being paid;
(7) The name and address of the employee and the last four digits of his social security number;
(8) The name and address of the employer; and
(9) The hourly rates in effect during the pay period, and the number of hours worked at each pay rate during the pay period.
As noted above, while employers must provide employees with information relating to their total number of hours worked, employees who are paid solely on salary and who are exempt from overtime are generally excepted. When it came to exempt employees who were not paid a salary (i.e. commission-based salespeople), employers were often uncertain whether they were required to disclose total hours worked for those workers.
In response to this uncertainty, the legislature updated the Code and expanded the exception. Under the revised Code, California employers no longer need to provide written wage statements with total hours worked for the following employees:
- executive, administrative or professional employees;
- outside salespersons;
- salaried computer professionals;
- parents, spouses, children, or legally-adopted children of the employer as provided by the applicable wage orders;
- directors, staff, and participants in a live-in alternative to incarceration rehabilitation program for substance abuse;
- crew members employed on commercial passenger fishing boats; and
- participants in national service programs.
For more information on how ensure your time sheets and wage statements comply with state and federal law, contact business attorney Drew E. Pomerance today.
