Is a pay stub required in New York?

The short answer

Yes. New York Labor Law section 195(3) requires every employer to "furnish each employee with a statement with every payment of wages." The statement is a creature of the Wage Theft Prevention Act, effective April 9, 2011, and the Department of Labor says it covers all private-sector employers, including charter schools, private schools and not-for-profits; federal, state and local government employers are not covered. It is a statement of each payment, not a one-time notice, and it is different from the pay notice an employer gives at hire. See the full pay stub requirements by state table for other states.

What the statement must list

Section 195(3) lists the dates of work covered by that payment of wages; the name of the employee; the name of the employer; the address and phone number of the employer; gross wages; deductions; allowances, if any, claimed as part of the minimum wage; and net wages. The text also applies to rates: for employees who are not exempt from overtime the statement must include the regular hourly rate or rates of pay, the overtime rate or rates of pay, the number of regular hours worked and the number of overtime hours worked. An employer must also furnish an explanation in writing of how wages were computed if the employee asks.

The Department's FAQ adds practical points. If an employee has multiple pay rates, "an employer must put all pay rates on the wage statement," while the notice at hire may list them on a separate sheet. Only the rates used to determine pay for that period need to appear on the statement. A retroactive wage increase must be noted separately on the statement for the period in which it is paid, and for a bonus or incentive plan on a weekly or less frequent basis, no additional notice is needed so long as the employee was first given a description or the bonus is clearly shown on the wage statement for the period in which it is paid.

Paper or electronic

The statute does not mention electronic delivery. The Department's FAQ answers the question directly: yes, "but workers must be able to access their statements on a computer provided by the employer and be able to print a copy for their records." In practice that means a payroll portal alone is not enough if a worker has no employer-provided computer to open it. Employers that go paperless should keep a path for workers without access, and workers who cannot open or print their statement should say so in writing.

Records, the pay notice and the written explanation

Section 195(4) requires employers to establish, maintain and preserve contemporaneous payroll records for not less than six years, which is longer than the 3-year federal minimum for payroll records. Subdivision 1 separately requires a pay notice at hire, in English and in the employee's primary language where the Department has made a template available; the notice and the signed acknowledgment are preserved for six years. A wage statement may be accompanied by a copy of the applicable notice under subdivisions one and two. Employers sometimes confuse the two documents: the notice states the rate and pay basis in advance, the wage statement reports what a specific payment contained.

Damages and the defense

Section 198(1-d) provides that an employee not given the statements required by subdivision three "shall recover in a civil action damages of two hundred fifty dollars for each work day that the violations occurred or continue to occur, but not to exceed a total of five thousand dollars," together with costs and reasonable attorney's fees. The commissioner can bring the same claim and assess the same per-day amounts. An employer has an affirmative defense if it paid all wages due on time or reasonably and in good faith believed it was not required to provide the statement.

Worked example (hypothetical)

An employer gives no statement for six working days. The statutory damages are 6 × $250 = $1,500. The $5,000 cap is reached on the 20th work day, which is about four working weeks without a statement. For comparison, a compliant statement for a worker paid $18.00 an hour for 40 regular hours and 5 overtime hours would show the regular rate $18.00, the overtime rate $27.00, 40 regular hours ($720.00) and 5 overtime hours ($135.00), gross $855.00, and then deductions and net pay.

Edge cases and common mistakes

• Omitting the employer's address and phone number. Both are required on the statement, not only the name.
• Leaving off the period covered. The statement must show the dates of work covered by the payment.
• Showing one blended rate for an employee with several rates.
• Delivering electronically without a computer the worker can use at work to view and print.
• Assuming employees who work in other states are covered. The Department states that employees working in other states are not covered by the New York rule, so the question for a remote worker is which state's law applies, which this page does not decide.

Who this is for, and what it does not cover

For New York private-sector employees and employers. It does not cover the hospitality-industry wage orders, minimum wage rates (see the minimum wage explorer), pay frequency rules, overtime eligibility, or New York City local laws. For take-home pay see the New York paycheck calculator, and for reading each line see pay stub explained.

Sources

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

• N.Y. Labor Law 195 — subdivision 3 wage statement items, subdivision 4 six-year payroll records, subdivision 1 notice language rules.
• N.Y. Labor Law 198 — subdivision 1-d damages of $250 a work day, cap of $5,000, costs and fees, affirmative defense.
• NYSDOL Wage Theft Prevention Act FAQ — coverage, electronic statements, multiple rates, retroactive increases, employees in other states.

† 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.