California court of appeal clarifies how the overtime rate can be listed on employees’ wage statements

In an unusual move, the Fourth District Court of Appeal granted a petition for writ of mandate seeking interlocutory review of the trial court’s denial of summary adjudication in General Atomics v. Tracy Green. Tracy Green sued her employer, General Atomics, alleging her employer failed to provide accurate, itemized wages statements showing “all applicable hourly rates in effect during the pay period and the corresponding number of hours worked at each hourly rate by the employee” as required by Labor Code section 226. Specifically, Green contended General Atomics failed to identify the correct rate of pay for overtime wages because its wage statements showed “.5 times the regular rate of pay rather than 1.5.” General Atomics moved for summary adjudication contending its wage statements complied with Section 226 because they showed the total hours worked at the standard rate, as well as the overtime hours worked with the additional overtime premium rate based on the employee’s regular rate of pay. The trial court denied General Atomics’ motion and General Atomics then challenged the order by petition for writ of mandate.

The Court of Appeal held that the trial court erred in determining that General Atomics’ wages statements violated Section 226. The Court found that providing the .5x overtime rate allowed an employee to verify General Atomics had correctly calculated both the statutory regular rate of pay and the employee’s total pay. This was especially true where an employee was paid at multiple rates of pay such that the regular rate of pay was a weighted average of the various rates of pay. Conversely, the Court stated Green’s interpretation of the Section 226 as requiring the wage statement to show a 1.5x overtime rate would be in error in many circumstances such as where an employee earns multiple standard hourly rates or receives other compensation such as commissions. It is always a good idea to regularly check your wage statements to certify they accurately reflect all rates of pay and hours worked by your employees. General Atomics demonstrates one court-approved method of compliance with Section 226.