Choose and Document a Pay Data Snapshot Period

The CRD Reporting Year 2025 handbook defines the snapshot as one pay period between October 1 and December 31 of the reporting year. It determines which employees appear in the report. Their earnings, hours and weeks are then prepared using the applicable annual rules, rather than limiting those measures to the snapshot paycheck.

This guide uses verified 2025 materials and fictional 2025 pay periods. CRD published May 13, 2026 as the deadline for that report. Reopen the official resources for another reporting year instead of changing the dates in this example. Keep the selected pay-period start and end dates with the source payroll calendar.

A quiet snapshot period does not necessarily eliminate a reporting obligation. The 2025 FAQ considers 100 or more payroll employees or labor contractor employees during the selected snapshot or on a regular basis during the year. The threshold analysis includes employees inside and outside California, and integrated-enterprise rules can affect the result.

Document that threshold assessment separately from the California detail population. Employees on paid or unpaid leave can count under the handbook's stated conditions. Do not choose a low-headcount period as a shortcut around the regular-basis test. Resolve coverage before using the snapshot extract as the final reporting inventory.

Obtain the employer's real payroll calendars for the eligible quarter. Compare candidate periods for available employment records, establishment assignments and job classifications. The choice should be documented as a reporting preparation decision, with a reproducible source and reviewer, rather than an unexplained date pair typed into the portal.

The table does not recommend changing a snapshot to conceal workers or pay patterns. Whichever eligible period is selected, apply the full inclusion rules and maintain the regular-basis threshold assessment.

For the fictional November 2-15 period, an employee hired November 10 is employed during the period, while one whose employment ended October 31 is not in that snapshot population. An employee still employed but on unpaid leave should remain in the review, even if the payroll extract has no positive payment row. Use employment records to resolve these cases.

Next establish which selected employees are California employees under CRD's definition. This includes assignment to a California establishment or regularly performing work in California, including remote work for an out-of-state establishment. Keep the factual assignment and work-location evidence. A mailing address alone does not reliably resolve every remote-work case.

Reconcile the included population to each establishment and group, recording exclusion reasons and duplicate-resolution decisions. Do not use a year-end active-employee list if it loses employees who were employed during the chosen earlier period.

The handbook assigns an employee who works in multiple job categories to the category covering the majority of their work during the snapshot. For an employee reporting to more than one establishment, use the establishment where the greatest portion of working hours was spent during that period. Document the supporting schedule or source rather than choosing whichever category is easiest to map.

Remote employees follow the handbook's establishment assignment sequence, including manager assignment or headquarters where relevant. Their home address is not an establishment and must not be included in the CRD report. Retain any ambiguous assignment as an exception for HR review before the final aggregation.

For labor contractor reporting, CRD encourages the same or overlapping snapshot periods across contractors, but does not require an identical period for every contractor. Coordinate the selected period with each supplier and retain its dates and source confirmation. Contractor snapshot dates appear in the labor contractor detail structure, which differs from payroll reporting.

Once reviewed, freeze the population and link it to annual earnings, hours and weeks. Record subsequent changes with their reasons and affected groups. The 2025 user guide shows where snapshot dates and report type are entered. Compare those entries with the approved worksheet before certification so the portal and calculations describe the same population.