I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4376 

To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to require certain 

disclosures be included on employee pay stubs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 13, 2016 

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to require 

certain disclosures be included on employee pay stubs, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Pay Stub Disclosure 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The lack of a Federal requirement to pro9 vide employees with pay stubs indicating how their 

10 pay is calculated or to allow employee inspections of 

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1 employers’ payroll records significantly impedes ef2 forts to identify and challenge wage and hour viola3 tions. 

4 (2) In a survey of 4,387 low-wage workers in 

5 New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, more than a 

6 quarter of workers were paid less than the minimum 

7 wage and among those who worked more than 40 

8 hours per week, more than three-quarters were not 

9 paid overtime. Fifty-seven percent of these workers 

10 reported that they did not receive a pay stub in the 

11 previous week. 

12 (3) Some employers are increasingly engaging 

13 in practices that make it extremely difficult for 

14 workers to calculate their pay, including paying 

15 workers in cash or by personal checks. 

16 (4) While the Fair Labor Standards Act of 

17 1938 and the regulations of the Department of 

18 Labor require employers to keep records of employ19 ees’ pay, the lack of remedies diminishes the effec20 tiveness of this requirement. 

21 (5) The Supreme Court held in Anderson v. Mt. 

22 Clemens Pottery Co. (328 U.S. 680 (1946)) that 

23 where an employer fails to keep records that are re24 quired under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, 

25 when an employee presents sufficient evidence of the 

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1 ‘‘amount and extent of that work’’, for which the 

2 employee was ‘‘improperly compensated’’ the burden 

3 shifts to the employer to disprove the employee’s tes4 timony and evidence of the hours the employee 

5 worked and how much he or she was paid. 

6 (6) Far too many courts have failed to shift the 

7 burden to the employer, where the employer has 

8 failed to keep records or has kept inadequate 

9 records, instead giving the employer’s testimony 

10 equal weight to credible evidence produced by the 

11 employee. 

12 SEC. 3. PAY STUB REQUIREMENTS. 

13 (a) DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS.—Section 11 of the 

14 Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 211) is 

15 amended by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(e) INFORMATION TO BE DISCLOSED TO CERTAIN

17 EMPLOYEES.— 

18 ‘‘(1) INITIAL DISCLOSURE.—Each employer 

19 shall provide an initial disclosure to each employee 

20 who is not subject to the exemptions set forth in sec21 tion 13 within 15 days of the date such employee is 

22 hired or any of the information in subparagraphs 

23 (A) through (C) changes with respect to that em24 ployee. Such disclosure shall include— 

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1 ‘‘(A) the rate or rates of pay and whether 

2 the employee is paid by the hour, shift, day, 

3 week, or job, or by salary, piece rate, commis4 sion, or other form of compensation; 

5 ‘‘(B) the name of the employer and any 

6 other name used by the employer to conduct 

7 business; and 

8 ‘‘(C) the physical address and telephone 

9 number of the employer’s main office or prin10 cipal place of business, and a mailing address 

11 if such mailing address is different from the ad12 dress of the main office or principal place of 

13 business. 

14 ‘‘(2) DISCLOSURES REQUIRED IN EACH PAY

15 STUB.—Each employer shall disclose to each em16 ployee who is not subject to the exemptions set forth 

17 in section 13 in a pay stub provided each pay pe18 riod— 

19 ‘‘(A) the pay period covered; 

20 ‘‘(B) the name of the employee and the 

21 last four digits of the employee’s Social Security 

22 number; 

23 ‘‘(C) the total hours worked by the em24 ployee, including the number of hours worked 

25 per workweek in the pay period; 

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1 ‘‘(D)(i) in the case of an employee who is 

2 paid an hourly wage, the total gross and net 

3 wages paid, and the rate of pay for each hour 

4 worked; 

5 ‘‘(ii) in the case of an employee who is 

6 paid a salary in lieu of an hourly wage, the 

7 amount of salary paid during the pay period; 

8 ‘‘(iii) in the case of an employee employed 

9 at piece rate, the number of piece-rate units 

10 earned, the applicable piece rate, and total 

11 amount paid in accordance with such piece rate; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(iv) in the case of an employee who re14 ceives commission or is paid on the basis of any 

15 other type of rate, the total amount paid in 

16 commission or in accordance with such rate and 

17 any additional information relating to such pay 

18 as determined by the Secretary; 

19 ‘‘(E) the number of overtime hours worked 

20 during each workweek of the pay period and the 

21 hourly rate of pay for each such overtime hour, 

22 or, in the case of an employee employed at piece 

23 rate, the piece rate paid for each such overtime 

24 hour; 

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1 ‘‘(F) any additional compensation paid or 

2 benefits provided, including an explanation of 

3 each type of compensation or benefit; and 

4 ‘‘(G) any deductions, with an explanation 

5 of each deduction, and any allowances or reim6 bursements, with an explanation of each allow7 ance or reimbursement. 

8 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS RELATED TO DISCLOSURE OF

9 COMPENSATION, BENEFITS, ALLOWANCES, AND REIM10 BURSEMENTS.—In disclosing the information required to 

11 be disclosed pursuant to subparagraphs (F) and (G) of 

12 paragraph (2)— 

13 ‘‘(A) the compensation and benefits required to 

14 be disclosed include— 

15 ‘‘(i) any bonus, paid leave (including paid 

16 vacation or personal time, paid sick leave, or 

17 any other paid leave), or other compensation; 

18 ‘‘(ii) any employer contributions to health 

19 care coverage or to a retirement account for the 

20 employee and any transit or other benefits pro21 vided by the employer; and 

22 ‘‘(iii) any additional form of pay that is re23 quired under State or local law, or for which 

24 records are required to be kept pursuant to 

25 State or local law, such as reporting time pay, 

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1 split shift pay, paid sick leave, or paid family 

2 or medical leave. 

3 ‘‘(B) the allowances and reimbursements re4 quired to be disclosed include any amounts paid to 

5 or reimbursed to an employee for meals, clothing, 

6 lodging, or any other item for which the employer 

7 makes an allowance or provides a reimbursement; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(C) the explanation for any additional com10 pensation, benefits, allowances, or reimbursements 

11 shall be itemized and may not be described as ‘mis12 cellaneous’. 

13 ‘‘(4) FORM OF DISCLOSURE REQUIRED.—The pay 

14 stub required by paragraph (2) shall be provided to an 

15 employee each pay period and may be provided— 

16 ‘‘(A) as a separate document, accompanying an 

17 employee’s pay; 

18 ‘‘(B) as a detachable part of a paycheck for em19 ployees receiving a paycheck; or 

20 ‘‘(C) electronically, at the election of the em21 ployee, if the employee receives his or her pay 

22 through electronic deposit.’’. 

23 (b) RECORDKEEPING REQUIREMENTS.—Section 11 

24 of such Act is further amended by adding at the end of 

25 subsection (c) the following: ‘‘An employer shall keep 

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1 records of the information disclosed in an employee’s pay 

2 stub, as required by subsection (e), for a period of three 

3 years from the date of issuance of each pay stub.’’. 

4 (c) INVESTIGATIONS AND INSPECTIONS.—Section 11 

5 of such Act is further amended by adding at the end of 

6 subsection (a) the following: ‘‘In the event that an em7 ployee requests an inspection of such employee’s records 

8 described in subsection (c), the employer shall provide cop9 ies of such records for a period of up to three years prior 

10 to such request. An employer shall comply with an employ11 ee’s requests to inspect records within 21 days of such 

12 request.’’. 

13 (d) NOTICE AND POSTING REQUIREMENT.—Section 

14 11 of such Act is further amended by inserting after sub15 section (e) (as added by subsection (a)) the following: 

16 ‘‘(f)(1) Every employer subject to any provision of 

17 this Act or of any order issued under this Act shall provide 

18 a notice to each employee within 15 days of the date of 

19 hire that includes— 

20 ‘‘(A) a description of the employee’s right 

21 to receive a pay stub and the information which 

22 the pay stub must contain; 

23 ‘‘(B) the address and telephone number for 

24 the applicable local office of the Department of 

25 Labor; and 

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1 ‘‘(C) such additional information as the 

2 Secretary shall require by regulation. 

3 ‘‘(2) In the case of employees employed by an em4 ployer on the date of enactment of this Act, the employer 

5 shall provide the notice described in paragraph (1) within 

6 15 days of the effective date of the Pay Stub Disclosure 

7 Act.’’. 

8 (e) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The section head9 ing of section 11 of such Act is amended by inserting 

10 ‘‘PAY STUB DISCLOSURES,’’ after ‘‘RECORDS,’’. 

11 SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 16 of the Fair Labor 

13 Standards Act of 1938 is further amended— 

14 (1) in subsection (b)— 

15 (A) by inserting after the second sentence 

16 the following: ‘‘An employer who violates sub17 sections (e) or (f) of section 11 shall be liable 

18 to the affected employee for $50 for the initial 

19 pay period in which such a violation occurs and 

20 $100 per employee for each violation in a sub21 sequent pay period, not to exceed an aggregate 

22 of $4,000 per employee.’’; and 

23 (B) by striking ‘‘either of the preceding 

24 sentences’’ and inserting ‘‘any of the preceding 

25 sentences’’; 

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1 (2) in subsection (e)— 

2 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (3) 

3 through (5) as paragraphs (4) through (6), re4 spectively; and 

5 (B) by inserting after paragraph (2) the 

6 following: 

7 ‘‘(3) An employer who fails to make, keep, and pre8 serve records as required by section 11(c), or fails to per9 mit a current or former employee to inspect or copy 

10 records as required by section 11(a), shall be subject to 

11 a civil penalty of $750 per violation.’’; and 

12 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(f) The Secretary shall have the authority, in ac14 cordance with inflation, to periodically increase the 

15 amounts provided for in this section as penalties or recov16 erable in an action described in subsection (b).’’. 

17 (b) EVIDENTIARY STANDARDS.—Section 15 of such 

18 Act (29 U.S.C. 215) is amended by adding at the end the 

19 following: 

20 ‘‘(c) In the event that an employer fails to keep suffi21 cient records as required by section 11(c) and any related 

22 regulations, the employee’s production of credible evidence 

23 and testimony regarding the amount and extent of the 

24 work for which the employee was improperly compensated 

25 shall be sufficient to create a rebuttable presumption that 

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1 the employee’s records are accurate, consistent with the 

2 Supreme Court’s decision in Anderson v. Mt. Clemens 

3 Pottery Co. (328 U.S. 680 (1946)).’’. 

4 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

5 Section 3 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 

6 29 U.S.C. 203) is amended by adding at the end the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘(z) ‘Pay stub’ means a paper that itemizes in writ9 ing all wages and deductions paid to an employee each 

10 pay period.’’. 

11 SEC. 6. REGULATIONS AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE. 

12 (a) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 1 year after the 

13 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall 

14 prescribe such regulations as are necessary to carry out 

15 this Act, including a list of State and local laws— 

16 (1) with requirements that are substantially 

17 similar to the requirements of this Act; and 

18 (2) compliance with which the Secretary may 

19 determine satisfies the requirements of this Act. 

20 (b) GUIDANCE AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—In 

21 order to achieve the objectives of this Act, the Secretary 

22 of Labor— 

23 (1) acting through the Administrator of the 

24 Wage and Hour Division of the Department of 

25 Labor, shall issue guidance on compliance with this 

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1 Act regarding providing the disclosures required 

2 pursuant to this Act; and 

3 (2) shall provide technical assistance to employ4 ers, labor organizations, professional associations, 

5 and other interested persons on means of achieving 

6 and maintaining compliance with the provisions of 

7 this Act. 

8 SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

9 The amendments made by this Act shall take effect 

10 on the date that is 6 months after final regulations are 

11 issued by the Secretary of Labor and not later than 18 

12 months after the date of enactment of this Act. 

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