BILL NUMBER: SB 1255 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Senator Wright
FEBRUARY 23, 2012
An act to amend Section 226 of the Labor Code, relating to
employee compensation.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1255, as introduced, Wright. Employee compensation: itemized
statements.
Existing law requires every employer, semimonthly or at the time
of each payment of wages, to furnish each employee an accurate
itemized statement in writing showing specified information,
including, among other things, the name of the employee and the last
4 digits of his or her social security number or an employee
identification number, the gross wages earned, all deductions, net
wages earned, the inclusive dates of the period for which the
employee is paid, and the name and address of the legal entity that
is the employer and, if the employer is a farm labor contractor, as
defined, the name and address of the legal entity that secured the
services of the employer. Existing law provides that an employee
suffering injury as a result of a knowing and intentional failure by
an employer to comply with this requirement is entitled to recover
the greater of all actual damages or a specified sum, not exceeding
an aggregate penalty of $4,000, and is entitled to an award of costs
and reasonable attorney's fees.
This bill would provide that an employee is deemed to suffer
injury for purposes of the above-referenced penalty if the employer
fails to provide a wage statement or fails to provide a wage
statement showing the name of the employee and the last 4 digits of
his or her social security number or employee identification number.
The bill would also provide that an employee is deemed to suffer
injury for that penalty if the employer fails to provide accurate and
complete information, as specified, and the employee cannot promptly
and easily determine from the wage statement alone the amount and
manner in which the employer calculated the gross and net wages paid
to the employee during the pay period, the deductions the employer
made from the gross wages to determine the net wages paid to the
employee during the pay period, and the name and address of the
employer or legal entity that secured the services of the employer,
as specified.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 226 of the Labor Code is amended to read:
226. (a) Every employer shall, semimonthly or at the time of each
payment of wages, furnish each of his or her employees, either as a
detachable part of the check, draft, or voucher paying the employee's
wages, or separately when 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 for any
employee whose compensation is solely based on a salary and who is
exempt from payment of overtime under subdivision (a) of Section 515
or any applicable order of the Industrial Welfare Commission, (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 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. 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.
(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 copy 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 copy 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 any 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 exceeding 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 or
if the wage statement fails to comply with item (7) of subdivision
(a).
(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 items (1) to (6), inclusive, (8), and (9)
of subdivision (a) and the employee cannot promptly and easily
determine from the wage statement alone any of the following:
(i) The amount of, and the manner in which the employer
calculated, the gross wages and net wages paid to the employee during
the pay period.
(ii) Which deductions the employer made from gross wages to
determine the net wages paid to the employee during the pay period.
(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.
(C) For purposes of this paragraph, "promptly and easily determine"
means to be able to readily ascertain without reference to other
documents or information.
(f) A failure by an employer to permit a current or former
employee to inspect or copy 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.