Wage and Hour Guide

Wage and Hour Payroll Audit Checklist

• Use the Wage and Hour Payroll Audit Checklist for California Employers to assist you in conducting a self-audit of your wage and hour practices.

Meal and Rest Breaks

California law has very specific requirements for nonexempt employee meal and rest breaks. This toolkit contains the meal and rest break forms for waivers, on-duty meal breaks, and employee acknowledgements for missed or short meal or rest breaks.

• Missed or Short Meal Period Acknowledgement.
• Missed or Short Meal Period Acknowledgement — Spanish.
• Missed or Short Rest Break Acknowledgement.
• Missed or Short Rest Break Acknowledgement – Spanish.
• Meal Break Waiver – Employee Shift 6 Hours or Less.
• Meal Break Waiver – Employee Shift 6 Hour or Less – Spanish.
• Meal Break Waiver – Second Meal.
• Meal Break Waiver – Second Meal – Spanish.
• Meal Break – On Duty.
• Meal Break – On Duty – Spanish.

Pay and Scheduling

California law has numerous requirements related to pay and scheduling (such as overtime pay, timekeeping and recording guidelines, mandatory days off and alternative workweek scheduling). To help employers through some of the related issues that may come up, this toolkit includes the following forms:

• Employers should require employees to obtain approval before working overtime and may use the Overtime Request form (also available in Spanish) in that process. (But remember that even if employees work without approval, they must be paid for that time.)
• Use the Overtime Calculation Worksheet to help ensure you’re paying the proper amount of overtime.
• Employers should use accurate timekeeping methods and maintain accurate payroll records. If, however, mistakes such as missed time entries at the beginning or end of shifts or meal periods are made, employers can require employees to use the Timesheet Correction form to correct any errors (also available in Spanish).
• To implement attestation language for your timekeeping system requiring employees to certify the accuracy of their timesheets, use the Timekeeping System Sample Attestation Language document (also available in Spanish).
• Give the Direct Deposit Authorization (also available in Spanish) to an employee who requests their pay delivered by direct deposit to one or more bank accounts.
• Generally, employees are entitled to at least one day off in a seven-day workweek. Employers can never require, encourage or induce an employee to give up their day of rest; however, you can allow an employee who has been fully informed of their entitlement to rest to choose not to take the day of rest, and have such employees sign the Day of Rest – Acknowledgement and Waiver (also available in Spanish).
• Under an alternative workweek schedule, employees may work more than eight hours in a day without incurring overtime. To do so, however, employers must comply with a strict set of procedures. Learn more about the process in the Alternative Workweek Checklist.
• See alternative workweek schedule examples in the Alternative Workweek Sample Calendar.

Makeup Time

California law allows a narrow exception to the general overtime rules for makeup time, which allows a nonexempt employee to request time off for personal obligations and make up the time on another day. This means that on another day within the same workweek, employees may work up to 11 hours without receiving overtime pay. Employers are not obligated to permit makeup time, but for those that choose to allow it, this guide includes the following forms:

• Makeup Time Checklist.
• Makeup Time Request.
• Makeup Time Request – Spanish.

Exempt Worksheets

Under federal and state laws, certain employees may be exempted from certain wage and hour requirements, such as overtime pay and meal and rest break requirements. Properly classifying employees as exempt in California, however, can be challenging — and the consequences of getting it wrong can be significant. Employers can use the following exempt analysis worksheets to help them work through the exemption requirements for a given position to determine if their employee is properly classified as an exempt employee vs. a nonexempt employee:

• Exempt Analysis Worksheet – Administrative Exemption.
• Exempt Analysis Worksheet – Executive/Managerial Exemption.
• Exempt Analysis Worksheet – Professional Exemption.
• Exempt Analysis Worksheet – Computer Professional Exemption.
• Exempt Analysis Worksheet – Salesperson Exemption.

Records Requests and Retention

California law allows employees and former employees to request to inspect or receive copies of their personnel records and payroll records. Employers can use the first two request forms below to facilitate those requests, and the third form covers record retention periods for all employee records, including payroll and personnel files:

• Personnel Records Request.
• Personnel Records Request — Spanish.
• Payroll Records Request.
• Payroll Records Request — Spanish.
• Records Retention Requirements.

Termination

Upon resignation or involuntary termination, California law has specific rules for providing the individual with their final paycheck. Employers can use the following forms to help satisfy California’s final pay requirements.

• Final Paycheck Acknowledgement.
• Final Paycheck Acknowledgement – Spanish.
• Final Paycheck Direct Deposit Authorization.
• Final Paycheck Direct Deposit Authorization – Spanish.
• Final Paycheck Worksheet.

Additional Forms and Resources

The following additional resources can also help you comply with your wage and hour obligations:

• The SmartStub tool can help employers ensure their wage statements comply with Labor Code section 226. It displays all required wage statement information and describes each section with reference to corresponding Labor Code provisions and case law.
• The Hiring Checklist will help employers ensure they provide and account for all required documents and information upon hiring a new employee, including the wage and hour notice required under Labor Code section 2810.5 and other government notices.
• For employers that hire minors, the Employing Minors Checklist can help ensure they’re following California’s requirements, including obtaining the required documentation and implementing certain training requirements.
• Lastly, the Local Minimum Wage, Paid Sick Leave and Other Employment Ordinances and California and Local Paid Sick Leave Comparison charts provide quick reference tables detailing local minimum wage and sick leave ordinance requirements.