Pay Stub
What is a pay stub and what information must it include?
A pay stub (or wage statement) is the document an employer provides to an employee showing the breakdown of earnings and deductions for a pay period. It typically includes gross wages, hours worked, overtime, taxes withheld, deductions, and net pay. Federal law does not require pay stubs, but most states do, with specific required fields. California, New York, and Illinois have the most detailed pay stub requirements, and failure to provide compliant stubs produces state penalties.
Pay stubs are one of the most employee-facing pieces of payroll compliance. Most employees look at the net pay figure and ignore the rest, but the required fields on the stub protect both sides of the employment relationship. Federal law is silent (the FLSA doesn't require pay stubs), but state wage statement laws set detailed requirements in most jurisdictions. California's Labor Code 226 is the most-litigated, with specific required fields and penalties that can run $50 per employee per pay period for missing information.
What Pay Stubs Typically Include
Employee name and identifier, pay period dates, gross wages, hours worked (regular and overtime), rates of pay, deductions (taxes, benefits, garnishments), net pay, and year-to-date totals. Most states require employer name and address as well.
State Pay Stub Requirements
California's Labor Code 226 requires nine specific pieces of information and allows private rights of action for omissions. New York requires wage statements at each payment with specific content. Illinois, Massachusetts, Texas, and others have similar (less strict) rules. See payroll for the operational context.
Digital vs. Paper Pay Stubs
Most states allow electronic pay stubs as long as employees can access and print them. A handful of states require paper unless the employee consents to electronic. Check state law before moving to an all-digital stub program.
Getting Pay Stub Compliance Right at Scale
Pay stub compliance is where small payroll errors become six-figure class actions. Audit pay stubs annually for required fields in every state where you employ. Align with W-2 year-end figures and with compensation records. Train payroll staff on state-specific variations. The DOL wage statement reference is at dol.gov/agencies/whd.
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