What California employers and employees should know about pay stubs. California has the highest top marginal income tax rate in the US at 13.3%.
Get in Touch →California Labor Code Section 226 requires employers to provide itemized pay stubs each pay period. The stub must include: gross wages, total hours worked (for non-exempt employees), all deductions, net wages, pay period dates, employee name, last four digits of SSN or employee ID, employer name and address, and hourly rates and hours worked for each rate.
California uses a progressive income tax with 10 brackets ranging from 1% to 13.3%. The SDI (State Disability Insurance) deduction is also required at 1.1% with no wage cap in 2026.
Use our Paycheck Calculator to estimate federal and state withholdings for California employees. Then check those amounts against the deductions on the pay stub.
California overtime rules are stricter than federal law. Daily overtime applies: 1.5× for hours over 8 in a day, 2× for hours over 12 in a day, and 1.5× for the first 8 hours on the 7th consecutive day.
Use the Overtime Calculator to determine overtime pay amounts before entering them in the pay stub.
Have a question or need assistance? Send us a message and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.
Thanks for reaching out. Our team will respond to within 24 hours.