Pay Stub Violations in California

Employers break pay stub laws in many ways. Some violations are small mistakes. Others are clear wage theft.

Missing Hours Worked

• Your pay stub shows no hours at all just a total dollar amount
• The hours shown are less than what you actually worked
• Your overtime hours are not listed separately
• Your meal break penalties are not shown as hours
• The hours listed are rounded down to the nearest half hour

Wrong Employer Information

• The company name on your pay stub is a fake name not the real business
• The address listed is a P O box or an old location
• Your employer uses a different legal entity to avoid liability
• The name on your pay stub does not match your employer’s registered business name
• Your employer lists themselves as a staffing agency when they are not

Missing Pay Period Dates

• No start date or end date is shown on your stub
• The dates shown cover more than one pay period
• Your employer skips weeks and pays you late
• The pay period dates keep changing without notice
• Your pay stub says you were paid for a period you did not work

Illegal Deductions

• Money is taken out for uniforms or tools with no explanation
• Your employer deducts money for cash register shortages
• Deductions are taken for customer walkouts or dine and dash
• Money is taken for background checks or training costs
• Your employer takes out money for something and you have no idea what it is

Incorrect Rate of Pay

• Your regular rate is listed as fifteen dollars but you agreed to eighteen dollars
• Overtime hours are listed but paid at your regular rate
• Your pay stub shows one rate for all hours even though you worked different jobs
• The rate shown does not match your employment contract
• Your employer changed your rate without telling you

Misclassification as Contractor

• Your pay stub calls you an independent contractor
• Your employer does not take out taxes because they say you are not an employee
• You have no deductions shown because your employer says you are self employed
• Your pay stub has no employer address because you are a contractor
• You do your job exactly like an employee but your pay stub says something else

California has a unique penalty for pay stub violations. Your employer pays you cash for every bad pay stub.

How the Penalty Works

• Fifty dollars for the first pay stub violation
• One hundred dollars for each subsequent violation
• You can collect up to four thousand dollars total
• The penalty applies to each pay stub not each missing item
• You can collect for every pay stub going back one year

When the Penalty Applies

• The penalty applies even if you received all your wages
• The penalty applies even if the missing information was a small mistake
• The penalty applies even if your employer fixes the problem later
• The penalty applies to both paper and electronic pay stubs
• The penalty applies to every worker who received a bad stub

What You Do Not Need to Prove

• You do not need to prove you were harmed by the violation
• You do not need to prove your employer intended to break the law
• You do not need to prove the missing information cost you money
• You do not need to prove your employer knew the stub was wrong
• The penalty is automatic when the stub is missing required information