One of my clients received a letter from a lawyer who represents one of his employees. The letter requested that my client, the employer, send all of his employees records to the employee’s lawyer. This employee has worked for my client for over 10 years. My client reached out to me and asked me how he should respond to this letter. I advised him that his employees have a right of inspection of their records. He needs to send these records to the employee’s lawyer within 21 days of receiving the letter. I also advised him that failure to do that will incur a penalty of $750. Additionally, the employer’s lawyer can file a lawsuit asking the court to compel my client to produce these records. The court also might order the legal cost and the attorney’s fee that this employee will incur to file this lawsuit to obtain his records. This could be a very expensive ordeal.
All employers in California must keep a record of the hours worked and paid and sick days accrued and used by employees for at least 3 years. The Labor Code section 226 outlines the number of items that must to be reflected on a wage statement.
1. Gross wages earned;
2. Total hours worked by an hourly employee;
3. All deductions;
4. Net wages earned;
5. Dates of the period for which the employee is paid;
6. The name of the employee and the last 4 digits of his or her social security number;
7. The employer’s name and address;
8. All applicable hourly rates and the number of hours worked at each rate.
If an employer knowingly and intentionally fails to keep these records, that employer can be liable for $50 for the initial pay. In which a violation occurs and $100 per employee for each violation in a subsequent pay period. This penalty cannot exceed $4000 per employee. So imagine if you have 10 employees and you failed to maintain these records for 3 years, you could end up with $40,000 in these penalties. In addition to that, the lawyer for the employee can recover attorney’s fees and cost from you. This could be a very costly mistake.
A consult package with Rupal Law gives you the peace of mind of knowing your legal support and guidance is just a phone call away. Contact us today to learn more and take the first step towards compliance knowledge and avoidance of unexpected legal fees or fines. www.rupallaw.com
