Below are the state and federal regulations on payroll recordkeeping requirements for employers. While there are some differences between the federal and state laws, employers who comply with the state 17 requirments listed below (shown in bold and underlined) will generally be in compliance in federal recordkeeping regulations if they include in the records the sex of the worker as required by the federal regulations but not by the state regulations. However, there are some exceptions.

Records required. For all employees who are subject to RCW 49.46.020, employers shall be required to keep and preserve payroll or other records containing the following information and data with respect to each and every employee to whom said section of said act applies:
(1) Name in full, and on the same record, the employee's identifying symbol or number if such is used in place of name on any time, work, or payroll records. This shall be the same name as that used for Social Security record purposes;
(2) Home address;
(3) Occupation in which employed;
(4) Date of birth if under 18;
(5) Time of day and day of week on which the employee's workweek begins. If the employee is part of a workforce or employed in or by an establishment all of whose workers have a workweek beginning at the same time on the same day, a single notation of the time of the day and beginning day of the workweek for the whole workforce or establishment will suffice. If, however, any employee or group of employees has a workweek beginning and ending at a different time, a separate notation shall then be kept for that employee or group of employees;
(6) Hours worked each workday and total hours worked each workweek (for purposes of this section, a "workday" shall be any consecutive 24 hours);
(7) Total daily or weekly straight-time earnings or wages; that is, the total earnings or wages due for hours worked during the workday or workweek, including all earnings or wages due during any overtime worked, but exclusive of overtime excess compensation;
(8) Total overtime excess compensation for the workweek; that is, the excess compensation for overtime worked which amount is over and above all straight-time earnings or wages also earned during overtime worked;
(9) Total additions to or deductions from wages paid each pay period. Every employer making additions to or deductions from wages shall also maintain a record of the dates, amounts, and nature of the items which make up the total additions and deductions;
(10) Total wages paid each pay period;
(11) Date of payment and the pay period covered by payment;
(12) Employer may use symbols where names or figures are called for so long as such symbols are uniform and defined.

(a) Name of each worker
(b) The Social Security number of each worker;
(c) The beginning date of employment for each worker and, if applicable, the separation date of employment of each such worker;
(d) The basis upon which wages are paid to each worker;
(e) The number of units earned or produced for each worker paid on a piecework basis;
(f) The risk classification applicable to each worker whenever the worker hours of any one employee are being divided between two or more classifications;
(g) The number of actual hours worked (WAC 296-17-31002) by each worker, unless another basis of computing hours worked is prescribed in WAC 296-17-31021;
(h) A summary time record for each worker showing the calendar day or days of the week work was performed and the actual number of hours worked each work day;
(i) The workers' total gross pay period earnings;
(j) The specific sums withheld from the earnings of each worker, and the purpose of each sum withheld;
(k) The net pay earned by each such worker.

Special recordkeeping requirements for truck or bus drivers. (1) In addition to the records required by WAC 296-128-010, employers who employ individuals as truck or bus drivers subject to the provisions of the Federal Motor Carrier Act shall maintain records indicating the base rate of pay, the overtime rate of pay, the hours worked by each employee for each type of work, and the formulas and projected work hours used to substantiate any deviation from payment on an hourly basis pursuant to WAC 296-128-012. The records shall indicate the period of time for which the base rate of pay and the overtime rate of pay are in effect.
For the purposes of this section and WAC 296-128-012, "base rate of pay" means the amount of compensation paid per hour or per unit of work in a workweek of forty hours or less. A base rate of pay shall be established in advance of the work performed and may be based on hours or work units such as mileage, performance of specified duties, or a specified percentage of the gross proceeds charged for specified work. A base rate of pay shall not be established that will result in compensation at less than the minimum wage prescribed in RCW 49.46.020. "Overtime rate of pay" means the amount of compensation paid for hours worked within the state of Washington in excess of forty hours per week and shall be at least one and one-half times the base rate of pay.
(2) The records required by this section shall be made available by the employer at the request of the department. Any current or past employee may obtain copies of the formula, the base rate of pay, the overtime rate of pay, and that employee's records. Job applicants seeking employment by the employer as truck or bus drivers subject to the provisions of the Federal Motor Carrier Act, may obtain copies of the formula, the base rate of pay, and the overtime rate of pay.

(1) You must create and maintain a file for each minor.
(2) The file must be maintained for three years from the last date of the minor's employment.
(3) The file must contain the following:

(4) These records must be kept safe and accessible at the place of employment or at a central recordkeeping office where such records are customarily maintained.

NOTE: Payroll records must be kept for the previous 3 year period as required by federal regulation 29CFR516.5

(a) Items required. Every employer shall maintain and preserve payroll or other records containing the following information and data with respect to each employee to the Act applies:

(1) Name in full, as used for Social Security recordkeeping purposes, and on the same record, the employee's identifying symbol or number if such is used in place of name on any time, work, or payroll records,

(2) Home address, including zip code,

(3) Date of birth, if under 19,

(4) Sex and occupation in which employed (sex may be indicated by use of the prefixes Mr., Mrs., Miss., or Ms.) (Employee's sex identification is related to the equal pay provisions of the Act which are administered by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Other equal pay recordkeeping requirements are contained in 29 CFR part 1620.)

(5) Time of day and day of week on which the employee's workweek begins (or for employees employed under section 7(k) of the Act, the starting time and length of each employee's work period). If the employee is part of a workforce or employed in or by an establishment all of whose workers have a workweek beginning at the same time on the same day, a single notation of the time of the day and beginning day of the workweek for the whole workforce or establishment will suffice,

(6)(i) Regular hourly rate of pay for any workweek in which overtime compensation is due under section 7(a) of the Act,

(7) Hours worked each workday and total hours worked each workweek (for purposes of this section, a ``workday'' is any fixed period of 24 consecutive hours and a ``workweek'' is any fixed and regularly recurring period of 7 consecutive workdays),

(8) Total daily or weekly straight-time earnings or wages due for hours worked during the workday or workweek, exclusive of premium overtime compensation,

(9) Total premium pay for overtime hours. This amount excludes the straight-time earnings for overtime hours recorded under paragraph (a)(8) of this section,

(10) Total additions to or deductions from wages paid each pay period including employee purchase orders or wage assignments. Also, in individual employee records, the dates, amounts, and nature of the items which make up the total additions and deductions,

(11) Total wages paid each pay period,

(12) Date of payment and the pay period covered by payment. (b) Records of retroactive payment of wages. Every employer who makes retroactive payment of wages or compensation under the supervision of the Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division pursuant to section 16(c) and/or section 17 of the Act, shall: (1) Record and preserve, as an entry on the pay records, the amount of such payment to each employee, the period covered by such payment, and the date of payment. (2) Prepare a report of each such payment on a receipt form provided by or authorized by the Wage and Hour Division, and (i) preserve a copy as part of the records, (ii) deliver a copy to the employee, and (iii) file the original, as evidence of payment by the employer and receipt by the employee, with the Administrator or an authorized representative within 10 days after payment is made. (c) Employees working on fixed schedules. With respect to employees working on fixed schedules, an employer may maintain records showing instead of the hours worked each day and each workweek as required by paragraph (a)(7) of this section, the schedule of daily and weekly hours the employee normally works. Also, (1) In weeks in which an employee adheres to this schedule, indicates by check mark, statement or other method that such hours were in fact actually worked by him, and (2) In weeks in which more or less than the scheduled hours are worked, shows that exact number of hours worked each day and each week.