226.
(a) An employer, semimonthly or at the time of each payment of wages, shall
furnish to his or her employee, either as a detachable part of the check,
draft, or voucher paying the employee’s wages, or separately if
wages are paid by personal check or cash, an accurate itemized statement
in writing showing (1) gross wages earned, (2) total hours worked by the
employee, except as provided in subdivision (j), (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, provided that all deductions made
on written orders of the employee may be aggregated and shown as one item,
(5) net wages earned, (6) the inclusive dates of the period for which
the employee is paid, (7) the name of the employee and only the last four
digits of his or her social security number or an employee identification
number other than a social security number, (8) the name and address of
the legal entity that is the employer and, if the employer is a farm labor
contractor, as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 1682, the name and
address of the legal entity that secured the services of the employer,
and (9) all applicable hourly rates in effect during the pay period and
the corresponding number of hours worked at each hourly rate by the employee
and, beginning July 1, 2013, if the employer is a temporary services employer
as defined in Section 201.3, the rate of pay and the total hours worked
for each temporary services assignment. The deductions made from payment
of wages shall be recorded in ink or other indelible form, properly dated,
showing the month, day, and year, and a copy of the statement and the
record of the deductions shall be kept on file by the employer for at
least three years at the place of employment or at a central location
within the State of California. For purposes of this subdivision, “copy”
includes a duplicate of the itemized statement provided to an employee
or a computer-generated record that accurately shows all of the information
required by this subdivision.
(b) An employer that is required by this code or any regulation adopted
pursuant to this code to keep the information required by subdivision
(a) shall afford current and former employees the right to inspect or
receive a copy of records pertaining to their employment, upon reasonable
request to the employer. The employer may take reasonable steps to ensure
the identity of a current or former employee. If the employer provides
copies of the records, the actual cost of reproduction may be charged
to the current or former employee.
(c) An employer who receives a written or oral request to inspect or receive
a copy of records pursuant to subdivision (b) pertaining to a current
or former employee shall comply with the request as soon as practicable,
but no later than 21 calendar days from the date of the request. A violation
of this subdivision is an infraction. Impossibility of performance, not
caused by or a result of a violation of law, shall be an affirmative defense
for an employer in any action alleging a violation of this subdivision.
An employer may designate the person to whom a request under this subdivision
will be made.
(d) This section does not apply to any employer of a person employed by
the owner or occupant of a residential dwelling whose duties are incidental
to the ownership, maintenance, or use of the dwelling, including the care
and supervision of children, or whose duties are personal and not in the
course of the trade, business, profession, or occupation of the owner
or occupant.
(e) (1) An employee suffering injury as a result of a knowing and intentional
failure by an employer to comply with subdivision (a) is entitled to recover
the greater of all actual damages or fifty dollars ($50) for the initial
pay period in which a violation occurs and one hundred dollars ($100)
per employee for each violation in a subsequent pay period, not to exceed
an aggregate penalty of four thousand dollars ($4,000), and is entitled
to an award of costs and reasonable attorney’s fees.
(2) (A) An employee is deemed to suffer injury for purposes of this subdivision
if the employer fails to provide a wage statement.
(B) An employee is deemed to suffer injury for purposes of this subdivision
if the employer fails to provide accurate and complete information as
required by any one or more of items (1) to (9), inclusive, of subdivision
(a) and the employee cannot promptly and easily determine from the wage
statement alone one or more of the following:
(i) The amount of the gross wages or net wages paid to the employee during
the pay period or any of the other information required to be provided
on the itemized wage statement pursuant to items (2) to (4), inclusive,
(6), and (9) of subdivision (a).
(ii) Which deductions the employer made from gross wages to determine the
net wages paid to the employee during the pay period. Nothing in this
subdivision alters the ability of the employer to aggregate deductions
consistent with the requirements of item (4) of subdivision (a).
(iii) The name and address of the employer and, if the employer is a farm
labor contractor, as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 1682, the name
and address of the legal entity that secured the services of the employer
during the pay period.
(iv) The name of the employee and only the last four digits of his or her
social security number or an employee identification number other than
a social security number.
(C) For purposes of this paragraph, “promptly and easily determine”
means a reasonable person would be able to readily ascertain the information
without reference to other documents or information.
(3) For purposes of this subdivision, a “knowing and intentional
failure” does not include an isolated and unintentional payroll
error due to a clerical or inadvertent mistake. In reviewing for compliance
with this section, the factfinder may consider as a relevant factor whether
the employer, prior to an alleged violation, has adopted and is in compliance
with a set of policies, procedures, and practices that fully comply with
this section.
(f) A failure by an employer to permit a current or former employee to
inspect or receive a copy of records within the time set forth in subdivision
(c) entitles the current or former employee or the Labor Commissioner
to recover a seven-hundred-fifty-dollar ($750) penalty from the employer.
(g) The listing by an employer of the name and address of the legal entity
that secured the services of the employer in the itemized statement required
by subdivision (a) shall not create any liability on the part of that
legal entity.
(h) An employee may also bring an action for injunctive relief to ensure
compliance with this section, and is entitled to an award of costs and
reasonable attorney’s fees.
(i) This section does not apply to the state, to any city, county, city
and county, district, or to any other governmental entity, except that
if the state or a city, county, city and county, district, or other governmental
entity furnishes its employees with a check, draft, or voucher paying
the employee’s wages, the state or a city, county, city and county,
district, or other governmental entity shall use no more than the last
four digits of the employee’s social security number or shall use
an employee identification number other than the social security number
on the itemized statement provided with the check, draft, or voucher.
(j) An itemized wage statement furnished by an employer pursuant to subdivision
(a) shall not be required to show total hours worked by the employee if
any of the following apply:
(1) The employee’s compensation is solely based on salary and the
employee is exempt from payment of overtime under subdivision (a) of Section
515 or any applicable order of the Industrial Welfare Commission.
(2) The employee is exempt from the payment of minimum wage and overtime
under any of the following:
(A) The exemption for persons employed in an executive, administrative,
or professional capacity provided in any applicable order of the Industrial
Welfare Commission.
(B) The exemption for outside salespersons provided in any applicable order
of the Industrial Welfare Commission.
(C) The overtime exemption for computer software professionals paid on
a salaried basis provided in Section 515.5.
(D) The exemption for individuals who are the parent, spouse, child, or
legally adopted child of the employer provided in any applicable order
of the Industrial Welfare Commission.
(E) The exemption for participants, director, and staff of a live-in alternative
to incarceration rehabilitation program with special focus on substance
abusers provided in Section 8002 of the Penal Code.
(F) The exemption for any crew member employed on a commercial passenger
fishing boat licensed pursuant to Article 5 (commencing with Section 7920)
of Chapter 1 of Part 3 of Division 6 of the Fish and Game Code provided
in any applicable order of the Industrial Welfare Commission.
(G) The exemption for any individual participating in a national service
program provided in any applicable order of the Industrial Welfare Commission.