Teders - payroll requirements

Guide to Payroll Records Retention

The Fair Labor and Standards Act sets record keeping requirements for employment subject to its provisions. There are no requirements to keep the records in a certain form; however, there are requirements stating the records contain certain information about the employee, wages earned and hours worked.

Basic records an employer must maintain are:

Employee's full name, social security number, address and zip code
Birth date (if under 19)
Sex and occupation
Time and day of week when the workweek begins
Hours worked each day
Total hours each workweek
Explanation of how the employee is paid (e.g., $8 per hour, piecework, etc.)
Regular hourly rate of pay
Total straight-time earnings
Total overtime earnings for the workweek
Additions to or deductions from the employee's pay and total wages paid each pay period
Date of payment and pay period

The FLSA requires employers to keep payroll records for at least three years. Wage computation records must be kept for at least two years (i.e. timecards, time schedules, wage rate tables, etc.) For additional information, visit the Wage-Hour website.