The Wage Theft Prevention Act (WTPA) took effect on April 9, 2011.
The law requires employers to give written notice of wage rates:
- To each new hire
- To all employees by February 1 of each year
The notice must include:
- Rate or rates of pay, including overtime rate of pay (if it applies)
- How the employee is paid: by the hour, shift, day, week, commission, etc.
- Regular payday
- Official name of the employer and any other names used for business (DBA)
- Address and phone number of the employer’s main office or principal location
- Allowances taken as part of the minimum wage (tips, meal and lodging deductions)
The notice must be given both in English and in the employee’s primary language (if the Labor Department offers a translation). The Department currently offers translations in the following languages: Spanish, Chinese, Haitian Creole, Korean, Polish and Russian.
Sample Pay Notices
The employer may provide its own notice, as long as it includes all of the required information, or use the Department’s sample notices. See our Wage Theft Prevention Act Forms for pay notices in a variety of languages.
More Information
The WTPA also included other provisions that employers need to know, such as stronger protections for whistleblowers and increased penalties for wage theft.
Employers are strongly encouraged to review the Wage Theft Prevention Act Fact Sheet
, and the Wage Theft Prevention Act Frequently Asked Questions.