What are the legal requirements regarding information on pay stubs?

California Labor Code Section 226 outlines the requirements for private employers. Employers are required to provide employees, either as a detachable part of the check, draft or voucher paying employee wages, or separately when wages are paid by personal check or cash, an accurate itemized statement in writing, showing:

• Gross wages earned;
• Total hours worked for nonexempt employees;
• The number of piece-rate units earned and any applicable piece rate if the employee is paid on a piece-rate basis;
• All deductions;
• Net wages earned;
• The inclusive dates of the period for which the employee is paid;
• The name of the employee and the last four digits of their Social Security number (an employer can substitute some other identifying number in place of the last four digits of the Social Security number);
• The name and address of the legal entity that is the employer;
• All applicable hourly rates in effect during the pay period and the corresponding number of hours worked at each hourly rate by the employee.

In addition, employers are required to provide an employee with a written notice setting forth the amount of paid sick leave available to the employee each pay period. An employer can either provide this notice to the employee on the already required itemized wage statement or in a separate writing provided to the employee with the payment of wages.

Employers with piece-rate workers must include the following additional information on wage statements given to piece-rate employees: (1) total hours of compensable rest and recovery periods, the rate of compensation for those periods, and the total gross wages; and (2) total hours of compensable non-productive time, the rate of compensation for that time, and the total gross wages.

Additionally, although Labor Code section 226 contains no separate requirement that missed-break premium pay be reported, the California Supreme court held such premium pay are considered “wages” and that, pursuant to section 226.7, an additional credited hour of work and the corresponding premium pay owed must be reported on the wage statement.

Temporary service employers must include the rate of pay and the total hours worked for each temporary services assignment. Licensed security services companies are specifically excluded from this requirement.

Employers that are farm labor contractors must also disclose the name and address of all legal entities (for example, other growers or other farm labor contractors) that secured the employer's services.

Read more about Form of Wage Payment in the HR Library.