Is a pay stub required in Illinois?

The short answer

Yes, and the rule changed on 1 January 2025. The Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act, 820 ILCS 115/10(b), now says employers "shall furnish each employee with a pay stub for each pay period." The Act, as amended by Public Act 103-0953, defines a pay stub in section 2 and adds copy rights for current and former employees. Because the amendment is recent, older articles that say Illinois only requires a statement of deductions are out of date. See the pay stub requirements by state table for comparison.

What counts as a pay stub

The Act defines a pay stub as "an itemized statement or statements reflecting an employee's hours worked, rate of pay, overtime pay and overtime hours worked, gross wages earned, deductions made from the employee's wages, and the total of wages and deductions year to date." That makes Illinois one of the few states that writes year-to-date totals into the statute. The Illinois Department of Labor's own announcement of the change lists a shorter set (hours worked, pay rates, overtime pay and deductions), but the statutory definition is the fuller list and is the one to apply. The statement may be one document or several, and it can be paper or electronic: subsection (c) refers to a pay stub furnished "electronically or in paper form."

Keeping stubs and giving copies

Subsection (c) requires an employer to keep a copy of an employee's pay stub for not less than 3 years after the date of payment, whether or not employment ends in that period. Subsection (d) adds a copy-on-request system:

• A current employee can ask for copies of pay stubs. The employer may require the request in writing and must respond within 21 calendar days.
• A former employee can ask for copies of previous pay stubs, with the same 21-day response time. The employer must provide them in paper or electronic form, as the former employee chooses, including by email, text message or any system that can be downloaded or permanently retained.
• An employer is not required to grant a request more than twice in a 12-month period, and not for a former employee more than one year after separation.
• An employer whose electronic system lets a former employee access stubs for less than a full year after separation must, at separation, offer a record of all stubs from the preceding year, make the offer by the end of the final pay period, and record in writing the date of the offer and the employee's response.
• Requests go to a person responsible for payroll, HR or payroll departments, the supervisor or department manager, or a person named in the employer's written policy.

Timeline example (hypothetical)

An employee emails payroll on October 1, 2026. The 21 calendar days end on October 22, 2026. A former employee who separated on 1 June 2026 can use the right until 1 June 2027, and in any 12-month window can make two requests.

Remedies

Section 14(d) provides that an employer who fails to furnish an employee or former employee with a pay stub "as required by this Act" or commits any other violation of the Act without a more specific remedy is subject to a civil penalty of up to $500 per violation payable to the Department of Labor. In setting the amount the Department considers the size of the business and the gravity of the violation. The better-known remedy in section 14(a), damages of 5% of underpayments per month, applies to wages not timely paid, so a missing stub alone does not trigger it. Section 10(e) also requires employers to post notices of regular paydays and the place and time of payment.

Edge cases and common mistakes

• An employee portal that deletes stubs after a few months. Retention for 3 years and the separation offer both turn on what the system keeps.
• Omitting the year-to-date column. The definition names it.
• Treating a request by text as ineffective. The employer may require a written request; a text message or email in writing generally fits, but ask payroll how it wants requests sent.
• Ignoring the two-request cap. It protects the employer from repeat requests, so plan requests to cover the periods you need.
• Believing Illinois law covers every worker. The Act has its own definitions of employee and employer; this page does not decide whether you fall inside them.

Who this is for, and what it does not cover

For Illinois employees and the employers who pay them. It does not cover final pay deadlines, deduction authorization rules in section 9, overtime eligibility, or Chicago and Cook County ordinances. Use the Illinois paycheck calculator for take-home pay and pay stub explained for the lines on the stub.

Sources

Each link was opened and read on October 20, 2026 (retrieved 2026-10). Items marked with a dagger are explained after the list.

• 820 ILCS 115/10 — pay stub each pay period, 3-year retention, copy rules, 21 days, posting.
• Public Act 103-0953 — the definition of pay stub including year-to-date totals and the amended section 10.
• 820 ILCS 115/14 — civil penalty of up to $500 per violation and 5% damages.
• Illinois Department of Labor press release, Dec. 18, 2024 — announcement that the pay stub requirement takes effect 1 January 2025.

† The official current text could not be opened by our automated check, or the link is a mirror, an open copy or a secondary summary of it. Use it as a pointer and read the official text before relying on it.