Employee Records and Information

Employee right to information and records

As an employee, you are entitled to compensation for the time you spend working. Most employees are compensated in the form of an hourly wage or a salary. Some employees are promised other types of compensation such as commissions, gratuities, bonuses, stock options, or equity interest. Regardless of how you are compensated, if your employer fails to pay you what you are owed, or engages in other conduct for the purpose of reducing your pay, that is called “wage theft.” If you suspect that your employer is engaging in wage theft, the first thing you should do is contact us or another attorney for a free legal consultation. In most cases, an attorney can assist you in determining whether your employer violated the law and, if so, provide advice regarding what you can do about it. For now, let’s start by going over some key pieces of information that your employer is required to keep and provide to you.

information required to be provided to employees at the start of employment

At the start of employment, your employer is required by law to provide you, in writing, with certain information. This information includes, but is not necessary limited to, the following:

• Information regarding how you are going to be paid, whether that is in the form of an hourly wage, a salary, commissions, bonuses, or some other method of payment;

• Whether you are entitled to allowances (such as meals and lodging);

• Information regarding paid time off (“PTO) and sick leave, as well as how those will accrue during your employment;

• Whether you are considered “exempt” for purposes of minimum wage and overtime;

• A list of any deductions that may be taken from your pay; and

• Other information that you, as an employee, are entitled to know.

This may seem like a no-brainer, but, historically speaking, there have been many instances in which employers either failed to provide this information or, worse, misled employees into thinking they would earn more than the employer intended to pay. Imagine, for instance, that your employer promised to pay you commissions that were directly tied to your sales and told you that your annual earnings would be in excess of $100,000. After a few months of work, you realize that your annual earnings will be considerably less. You bring this to your employer’s attention only to learn that their method of calculating commissions is considerably less than what you were led to believe. Unfortunately, this situation was all too common in the past. Today, there are protections in place to prevent this from happening. If you find yourself in a situation like the one described above, give us a call.

employer earnings statements record-keeping requirements

Throughout your employment, your employer is legally required to keep and provide you with certain information. This includes things like “earnings statements” which typically contain information regarding how much you worked, what you were paid, a list of any deductions that were made from your pay, and other information.

If you are an hourly employee, your employer is required to keep records showing how much you worked. Your employer should have a system in place to track your time. This is especially important if you work overtime are are entitled to overtime pay. And under no circumstance should your employer ever reduce the number of hours you worked or pay you less than what you deserve.

This information, as well as other records, should be kept and maintained by your employer in something called a personnel file.

Personnel File and Reason for Termination

In addition to your employer’s obligations to keep and maintain certain records during your employment, you also have certain rights after your employment ends. For example, you have a right to request your personnel file. Technically speaking, this right also exists during your employment, though employees oftentimes don’t feel the need to request their personnel file while employment is ongoing. With that said, sometimes an employee is concerned about how they’re being paid or is informed that they haven’t been meeting the Company’s expectations. In either of these situations, a current employee may want to request his/her personnel file. Your personnel file should include information like your compensation history, performance reviews, any disciplinary actions that you’ve received, and other valuable information that you can use to verify whether you’ve been paid properly or refute allegations that you haven’t been meeting expectations.

What if, on the other hand, you come in to work one day and your supervisor tells you that the Company is terminating your employment? You ask why, but your supervisor just says something along the lines of “it was a business decision” and gives you no additional information. What can you do about it? In Minnesota, you have the right to know the reason for your termination and get that reasoning from your employer. Moreover, that reason has to be provided to you in writing. With that said, when an employee is terminated that employee has a limited number of days to request this information. If your employment was recently terminated and you want to know the reason why, you should promptly send your employer a written request (usually by email) asking for the employer’s reason for terminating your employment. If you have more questions about how to do this, give us a call.