California Time Card Law

Submittal

Employers are required to establish a consistent pay date of their choice; the most common are weekly, biweekly and semi-monthly. Generally, employers establish a deadline for workers to submit their time cards; for instance, every Monday by 9 a.m. In California, the employer is obligated to pay the employee for work performed even if the worker does not submit a time card. The law does not require the employee to wait until the next payday to receive his paycheck due to untimely time card submittal. The employer must adhere to the law by paying all wages that he is reasonably aware of for the pay period.

Overtime hours performed in a single pay period must be paid on the employee's next regularly schedule pay date. The employer can delay the overtime wages until the next paycheck, but not his regular (straight-time) wages.

According to the California Department of Industrial Relations, the employer must provide the employee with a detachable portion of the check or a separate attachment in writing each time he him her with a check or in cash. This detachment includes an itemized statement of the payment, such as gross earnings, deductions, total hours and net pay. The hours on the wage statement should match the employee's time card.

Upon reasonable request, California employers must allow employees to view their payroll records. This includes time cards and other data used for wage computations. The employer must adhere to the request as soon as possible, but no later than twenty-one days from the time of the request. If the employer denies this request, the present or former employee can sue the employer in a civil court and receive a $750 penalty from him.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, rounding practices among employers are acceptable, as long as they do not underpay employees for actual hours of labor. Employers can round up or down to the nearest 5 minutes, or to the closest one-tenth or quarter hour. For instance, if the employee clocks in at 8:57 a.m., the employer can round up to 9 a.m. The employer cannot engage in rounding practices solely for his benefit. For instance, he cannot constantly round down the employee's time for no logical reason.

According to California Labor and Employment Law, as of January 1, 2009, it is a misdemeanor for the employer to require employees to sign a wage statement/time card that he knows is untrue. It is a crime for the employer to knowingly allow employees to record incorrect hours instead of the actual hours of labor. Under California law, the employer incurs a penalty for permitting employees to record incorrect hours on the time card.