We have a long-term client whom we have done work for, for several years & they are requesting employee pay stubs to confirm what we actually billed for. Our contract with this customer has a labor rate in place & we charged accordingly. It is not in our contract to provide these documents. They are stating it will be required to provide these in order to get paid. Is this legal & do we have to provide?
Rita Risser Chai Responds:
It is likely that there is confidential Personal Identifiable Information (PII) on those pay stubs. The Department of Labor defines PII as including name, address, social security number or other identifying number or code. The last 4 digits of the social security number may be enough to be PII. Therefore, you should not give them the employee pay stubs.
As a matter of contract law, you have a contract and you charge accordingly. If they thought you were paying your workers less than what you contracted for, perhaps they’re thinking they could reduce the amount they’re paying you. If they are federal government contractors, there may be some issues there. I would suggest calling them or meeting and having a heart to heart about what is the motivation for this. Perhaps there is a way you can provide information they need without revealing PII. Good luck.
Posted 12-14-2020
Information here is correct at the time it is posted. Case decisions cited here may be reversed. Please do not rely on this information without consulting an attorney first.