Cheryl Orr and Heather Sager discuss the provision of notices for employee deductions in a BLR webinar entitled ‘Wage Payments: What You Can and Can’t Legally Deduct from Employees’ Pay’. They provide the following information about providing notice to employees regarding paycheck deductions:
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Get Your Report Now! It is not a good idea to surprise employees with deductions in their paycheck. It is a better idea to provide sufficient notice to the employee regarding deductions from their pay.
- The employee should have notice of all deductions. One way to provide notice is having the employee aware of all the paperwork that involves deductions e.g. loans, overpayment, etc.
- An itemized statement of deductions must be provided. Itemized wage payments are required by law every time an employee gets their paycheck. For examples, some states require that paychecks include the amount of the wages, hours worked, the list of deductions, etc.
Issues involving itemized statements include:
- When is it due? This is governed by state law. It could be monthly or otherwise, depending on the law that is in place
- What about electronic statements? This also varies according to the state. All states allow such electronic statements but the requirements and guidelines can differ
- Copying rights. This also varies by state.
Cheryl D. Orr, Esq. is a partner and co-chair of the national Labor and Employment Practice Group at Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP (www.drinkerbiddle.com). She concentrates her practice on defending employers against FLSA collective actions and state and federal wage and hour class actions, and she regularly litigates discrimination, harassment, and unfair competition claims, conducts high-level workplace investigations, develops plans for reductions in force, and offers employer advice and counseling.
Heather M. Sager, Esq. is also a partner in the Labor and Employment Practice Group at Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP. Sager focuses her practice on management-side representation in collective and class actions, with particular experience in wage and hour litigation under state and federal law, including representative claims brought under California Business & Professions Code Section 17200. She also regularly handles single and multi-plaintiff employment litigation in the areas of unfair competition, wrongful discharge, harassment and discrimination before state and federal courts and administrative agencies.