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Penalty exposure calculator
What an underpaid line on a filed certified payroll costs under Labor Code section 1775: restitution of the back wages, plus a statutory penalty that runs up to $200 per worker for each day the worker was paid less, with a $40-per-day floor in the ordinary case.
How the number is built
Back wages are what the workers should have been paid, and they are owed in full. On top of restitution, section 1775 sets a civil penalty per worker, per calendar day of underpayment: not less than $40 per day unless the failure was a good-faith mistake promptly and voluntarily corrected, not less than $80 per day for a contractor with a prior assessment, and up to $200 per day at the top of the range. The Labor Commissioner sets the figure weighing good faith and history.
Overtime violations add $25 per worker per day under section 1813, and apprenticeship violations carry their own penalties under section 1777.7. This calculator shows the section 1775 exposure only, using five paid days per week.
Illustrative arithmetic, not a legal determination. Aeternus Dynamics is not a law firm; actual penalties are assessed by the Labor Commissioner or the awarding body. The cheapest exposure is the line that never gets filed wrong: a review before you file catches it first.
Enter the four figures and the range shows here, cited.
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