US pay stub rules by state: what the law requires on each stub

Federal law does not require a pay stub

The Fair Labor Standards Act, the main federal wage law, requires employers to keep accurate records of hours worked and wages paid. It does not require them to give a pay stub to the employee. The U.S. Department of Labor says this directly in its official questions and answers on the FLSA. That leaves the duty to provide a stub, and the content of the stub, to state law. In practice, a state may require a written or electronic statement with every payment, access to a statement, or a statement only when a worker asks for one. A few states have no pay stub law.

Use the free calculator on this page to build a sample stub from your own hours and rates, then compare the result with the fields in your state's text.

Three state models you will see

Most state rules fall into a small number of patterns. The table below shows three patterns that this guide could check against official state text. It is a set of examples, not a full list of all 50 states.

California's rule is the most demanding of the three. Its statement must be itemized and given semimonthly or at each payment of wages. It can be attached to a paycheck or given separately, which matters for workers paid by direct deposit. New York's rule under section 195(3) requires a statement with every payment and does not bar electronic statements, so the format is more flexible than California's. Ohio's Pay Stub Protection Act took effect on April 9, 2025 and is codified as section 4113.14 of the Ohio Revised Code. It allows a written or electronic statement, or access to one, but sets a short fallback if a worker does not receive one.

Fields that states name most often

Across these three laws the same fields keep returning. The list below is the overlap. Treat it as a floor. Some states add fields, such as California's last four digits of a Social Security number or employee ID, and New York's allowances claimed toward the minimum wage.

• Employee name, and the employer's name and address
• Pay period dates and the date of payment
• Rate of pay and its basis, such as hourly, salary or piece rate
• Hours worked, with regular and overtime hours shown separately where the law asks
• Gross wages, before any deduction
• Each deduction on its own line, with the amount and its purpose
• Net wages, after all deductions

California also asks for every hourly rate in effect during the period, with the hours worked at each rate. That matters if someone changed roles or rates partway through a pay period. New York asks for the regular and overtime rates, and Ohio asks for the hourly rate, total hours, and hours over 40 in one workweek for hourly staff.

How to work out the figures, step by step

Start with time records for the pay period. Split regular hours from overtime hours. For a non-exempt hourly worker, the FLSA requires time and one-half the regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek, so the overtime rate is set by the regular rate, not by a separate figure. Write down the regular rate and the overtime rate before you calculate anything, because the statement must show both where the law asks for them.

Next, calculate gross pay. Multiply regular hours by the regular rate, multiply overtime hours by the overtime rate, and add any bonus, commission or other additions for the period. Gross is the total before any deduction. Then list each deduction on its own line with its purpose, such as federal income tax, state income tax, a health premium, a retirement contribution or a court-ordered garnishment. Ohio's law expressly asks for the amount and purpose of each addition or deduction. Subtract the deductions from gross to reach net pay. Finally, check the header. The employer's legal name and address, the employee's name and the pay dates should all be on the statement before it goes out.

Worked example

Take an hourly worker in Ohio paid $20.00 an hour who works 45 hours in one workweek, with a pay period that matches that week. The first 40 hours pay $800.00. The five overtime hours pay $30.00 each, which is $150.00, so gross pay is $950.00. The statement needs the 45 total hours, the $20.00 rate, the 5 hours over 40, and the gross figure.

Now the deductions. These amounts are illustrative, not calculated from tax tables: federal income tax $80.00, Social Security and Medicare $72.68, health insurance premium $45.00 and Ohio income tax $25.00. Total deductions are $222.68. Net pay is $950.00 minus $222.68, which is $727.32. Each deduction appears on its own line with its purpose, and the net figure ties back to the gross. A payroll system or the official withholding tables set the real amounts for a real worker.

Cases that change the answer

Salaried staff who are exempt from overtime are treated differently in California. The statute does not require their hours on the stub, although every other item still applies to them. Piece-rate workers must show the number of units and the rate for each unit. Workers who earned more than one hourly rate in the same period must show each rate with the hours worked at it.

Delivery method changes the answer too. California requires a paper statement unless the employee is given the choice of electronic delivery and can decline it. Electronic-only delivery with no paper option is treated as a problem under that state's rule. Ohio allows a written or electronic statement, or access to one. New York's section 195 does not prohibit electronic statements, but a statement must still reach the employee with each payment.

Some states give the worker a right to ask for more detail. New York's section 195(3) lets an employee ask for a written explanation of how wages were computed. In Ohio, an employee who did not receive a statement can ask in writing, and the employer then has ten days to provide it. If the employer still does not comply, the worker can report the matter to the Ohio Department of Commerce. Ohio's law does not give employees a private right to sue for a missing statement, so the enforcement route runs through the state.

Penalties are highest where the rule is strictest. California's Labor Code section 226 sets statutory penalties for knowing and intentional violations, with a cap of $4,000 per employee. Keep the penalty in mind when you decide how much payroll error is acceptable. A single missing field across a large payroll can become a large exposure.

Record keeping is a separate rule that applies even where no stub is required. The DOL's Fact Sheet on recordkeeping states that records must be kept for at least three years. California also requires employers to keep copies of wage statements for at least three years. A state with no stub law still expects the underlying payroll data to exist and be available.

Common mistakes

The most common error is treating the lack of a federal stub rule as a lack of duty. The FLSA still requires accurate records of hours and wages, and most state rules still apply to the stub itself. A second error is listing deductions as one total. California and Ohio both expect each deduction on its own line with its purpose, and a single lump sum does not meet that expectation.

Employers also forget the employer's legal name and address, which California and New York both name. Another frequent gap is hours for hourly staff, especially when the statement shows only the amount earned. Mid-period rate changes are often missed, because the statement shows the new rate but not the old one for the days before the change. Finally, many employers assume an email or portal link always satisfies the rule. Whether it does depends on the state, and California in particular expects a paper option unless the worker chooses otherwise.

A related mistake is assuming that a state with no law can ignore the question. Some employers in those states still give stubs as a matter of good practice, and a worker who asks for one should receive the payroll information the FLSA requires you to keep.

Which states have no pay stub law

Sources do not agree on the count. A current FirstHR template page lists eight states with no law requiring a stub: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Dakota and Tennessee. Older lists show nine, because they still included Ohio, which now has a law. Texas is a partial case. Its earnings statement rule, as summarised by a secondary guide, does not reach employees covered by the FLSA, which covers most workers. The official state texts for these states are not linked in this guide, so confirm the list against each state labour department before you rely on it.

What to check with HR or a lawyer

Start by confirming the current text and effective date of your state's rule. State laws change. Ohio's law is recent, and some states have amended their statements in the last few years. Then check which employees are exempt from overtime, and how your payroll system treats them. Next, confirm whether your state requires paper, and whether your employees have agreed to electronic delivery in a way the state accepts. Confirm your record keeping period, which is at least three years for payroll records under the FLSA.

Automation can fill the fields and flag a missing one. It cannot decide whether a deduction is lawful, which state's rule applies to a worker who lives in one state and works in another, or whether an exemption applies to a particular job. A person still makes those calls.

How employers take routine payroll work off their staff

Employers who run payroll by hand often re-key hours, rates and deductions from one system into a stub template. AI workers can read the timekeeping export and the payroll register, populate each field the state names, and run a completeness check before payday. Any statement with a gap goes to a person, and the payroll lead still approves the pay run. The gain is fewer manual copies and an earlier warning of a missing field, not a change in who decides the rules.

This explains the rule in general terms; it is not legal or tax advice for your case.