Effective April 8, 2025, employers in Ohio will be required to comply with the “Pay Stub Protection Act.” Don’t worry, though, the rules are not as onerous as pay stub rules in the California Republic.
The law covers all employers who have a least one (1) employee. Even if the employer is based outside of Ohio, any employees located in Ohio would be subject to this requirement. The good news is that most employers with third-party payroll providers won’t have to do much to ensure compliance. However, smaller employers and those who do payroll in-house may need to get new forms to cover all of the required information.
The pay stubs can be the traditional kind, with an actual paper copy provided to the employee on payday. Or, the employer can meet the requirement with an electronic copy, such as what is typically done with direct deposit. As long as the employee can access the pay stub (and it has the required information), the employer will be in compliance.
Each pay period, the employer must show the following information on the pay stub:
- Employee’s name;
- Employee’s address;
- Employer’s name;
- Total gross wages earned by the employee during the pay period;
- Total net wages paid to the employee for the pay period;
- An itemization of the amount and purpose of each addition to, or deduction from, the wages paid to the employee during the pay period;
- The date the employee was paid; and
- The dates of the pay period covered by that payroll.
If the employee is paid on an hourly basis, the pay stub must also include:
- The total number of hours the employee worked in that pay period;
- The hourly wage (or wages, if at different rates) at which the employee was paid; and
- The employee’s overtime hours worked in each workweek within the pay period.
Thankfully, unlike in California, employees cannot file lawsuits against employers who do not comply. If the employer does not provide the pay stubs, the employees can report violations to the Ohio Department of Commerce. At that time, the employer will have to post a notice of non-compliance at the worksite. That may not sound like a very heavy enforcement burden, but it remains to be seen whether the Department of Commerce could seek an injunction to force a non-compliant employer to act.
Also remember that in Ohio, the frequency of payroll is semi-monthly, with one pay period in arrears. Most employers pay every two weeks, and under Ohio law, custom or contracts may allow pay to be less frequent.
