Tips For State Workers: How To Get Federal Pay Stubs

Let's face it, nobody is in love with paperwork. However, when it comes to federal pay stubs, you need to stay up to date. Employers are not required by law to provide their personnel with paper pay stubs in every state. However, they are expected to keep accurate records of the information contained in pay stubs.
Employees are entitled to ask for these details at any time. If employers can't provide them, severe penalties or a Department of Labor Audit may result.

Which States Require Paper Pay Stubs?

If you are an employer in the following states you are required by law to present your workers with hard copies of their pay stubs:

• California
• Colorado
• Connecticut
• Iowa
• Maine
• Massachusetts
• New Mexico
• North Carolina
• Texas
• Vermont
• Washington

All other states are more flexible with regard to the format of federal pay stubs, but they must still be presented on request. Of these, 26 states require that employees are provided with a pay stub in some form (usually electronically).
In Hawaii, employers require written consent from their personnel to implement paperless pay stubs. If you are an employee and you need copies of your pay stubs to work out your taxes, apply for credit or any other reason, you can get copies from your employer. You could also generate your own paystub if you know how they calculate your pay.
It makes sense to request a pay stub from your employer and keep these for at least a year. If you store them electronically, you can keep them for even longer.

Creating Your Own Federal Pay Stubs

Those who have state personnel working for them must ensure that the following information with regard to each employee is recorded on their pay stub:

• Full name
• Social security number
• Address and zip code
• Birthdate if they are under 19 years old
• Gender
• Occupation
• Start time and day of their work week
• Number of hours worked daily
• Total hours worked for the week
• Basis of amount paid per hour or week e.g. $10 per hour or $500 a week
• Amount paid per actual regular hour worked
• Total daily or weekly regular earnings
• Amount of overtime hours and earnings
• Total deductions or additions for the period
• Total wages for the pay period
• Date of payment
• Pay period relating to the pay stub

Slipping up on any of these details can lead to serious legal complications if you undergo a Department of Labor audit. If you are not presenting your employees with a pay stub, it pays to keep all these details together in one place where you can access them easily. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires that you keep proof of these calculations as well as your timekeeping records for at least three years.

Making It Easy for You

If you are a federal employer, it saves you time in the long run if you create federal pay stubs at every pay run and keep copies of them. It only takes a few minutes with our paystub creator and you will never have to worry about not having the necessary records to hand when you need them.

Be sure to check out our other blogs as well to find out more information on what to do if your paystubs are stolen, how to protect yourself from W2 phishing scam, and what's going to happen if you only file one of your W2 forms.