Pay Stub Violations: Up to $4,000 for Paperwork Your Employer Got Wrong

California treats an accurate, itemized wage statement as a right. Missing hours, missing rates, or a wrong employer name can add thousands to a wage claim.

What California Law Says

Labor Code section 226 requires nine specific items on every wage statement, including gross wages, total hours, all hourly rates, and the legal employer name and address. Knowing and intentional violations carry penalties of 50 dollars for the first pay period and 100 for each after, up to 4,000 dollars, plus attorney fees.

How to Fight Back, Step by Step

1. Collect every pay stub you have; request missing ones in writing — employers must produce records within 21 days or face a 750 dollar penalty.
2. Check each stub against the nine required items.
3. Count the violating pay periods and compute the penalty schedule.
4. Add the section 226 claim to any underlying wage claim — it stacks on top.
5. File with the Labor Commissioner or include it in court claims.

Common Questions

My stub shows a staffing company I never heard of. Does that matter?

Yes — the correct legal employer name and address is a required item, and confusion over employer identity is itself an injury under the statute.

I was paid in cash with no stub at all. Now what?

Total absence of wage statements is a violation for every pay period, and the missing records make your reconstructed hours harder for the employer to dispute.