Is a pay stub required in Ohio?

The short answer

Yes, since 9 April 2025. Before then Ohio was among the few states with no pay stub statute, and every list that includes Ohio among the "no stub" states predates House Bill 106, the Pay Stub Protection Act, which Governor DeWine signed on 8 January 2025. The act adds Revised Code section 4113.14. An Ohio employer must give each employee, on the regular payday, a written or electronic earnings statement, or access to one, for each pay period. Ohio is notable for what it leaves out: no fixed fine and no private lawsuit in the section, only a written request, a ten-day clock and a notice enforced by the Department of Commerce. See the pay stub requirements by state table for the other states.

What the statement must show

Every statement must show the employee's name and address, the employer's name, total gross wages, total net wages, each addition or deduction with its amount and purpose, and the pay date and the pay period covered. For hourly employees it must also show the total hours worked, the hourly rate, and any hours worked beyond 40 in a single workweek. The section is written for employers generally. The statute, as summarised by the Ohio State University Extension, Frantz Ward and Amundsen Davis, uses the words "written or electronic," and also allows the employer to provide access to a statement, for example through an online system.

If you do not get one: the ten-day process

1. The employee asks in writing for the statement.
2. The employer has ten days to provide it.
3. If it does not, the employee can report the violation to the Ohio Director of Commerce.
4. If the Director finds reasonable grounds, the employer must post a written notice in a conspicuous place for ten days.

The OSU Extension summary states that the law does not give employees a right to sue or recover money for noncompliance. Another way to read that: the practical remedy is documentation and a regulator, not damages, so a clear written request matters. Keep a copy of the request and its date. If the state's pay rules are not met, the employee still has the underlying wage claims available under Ohio and federal wage law; this page covers only the statement.

Paper or electronic

Ohio allows written, electronic or access-based delivery. There is no consent or opt-out rule in the sources we read and no required print access. That differs from Connecticut (explicit consent, secure access and printing), Hawaii (written authorization and retrieval instructions) and New York (an employer-provided computer and printing). An employer that moves to an online-only stub in Ohio has more room than one in those states, but a worker who cannot get to the stub is, as a practical matter, a worker without one for the ten-day clock.

Why older lists are wrong, and a worked example

Before April 2025, vendor lists of states "without a pay stub law" often named Ohio, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Dakota and Tennessee. Seven of those still have no general rule on our reading of October 20, 2026; Florida has only a labor-pool rule and Ohio has changed. If you are reading an article from 2024 or early 2025, treat its Ohio entry as obsolete.

Worked example (hypothetical). A restaurant worker is paid $15.00 an hour and works 46 hours in a workweek. A compliant Ohio stub shows the worker's name and address, the employer's name, the pay date and period, total hours 46, hourly rate $15.00, and 6 hours beyond 40, then gross wages, each deduction and its purpose, and net wages. The worker requests the stub in writing on 3 November 2026; the employer's ten days run to 13 November 2026.

Edge cases and common mistakes

• Giving a stub with deductions but not their purpose. The statute asks for the amount and purpose of each addition or deduction.
• Forgetting the over-40 line for hourly staff. Total hours and rate are not enough.
• Using an online system without any way to request a copy.
• Assuming the Department of Commerce will award money. The section describes a notice, not damages.
• Using an old article. Several widely shared Ohio guides were written before April 2025.

A note on our sources for Ohio

The official statute pages (codes.ohio.gov, legislature.ohio.gov) refused or could not be reached by our automated check on October 20, 2026, so this page rests on three secondary summaries that agree on the contents (Ohio State University Extension, Frantz Ward and Amundsen Davis) and on the bill number and section number they cite. Read the enacted text of ORC 4113.14 before relying on this page for compliance.

Who this is for, and what it does not cover

For Ohio employees and employers. It does not cover how often Ohio employers must pay (see payday and sick leave by state), minimum wage, overtime eligibility or retention periods, which section 4113.14 does not set. Use the Ohio 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.

• Ohio State University Extension, Ohio's new pay stub law † — citation ORC 4113.14, mandate, contents, ten-day request, Department of Commerce notice, no private right of action.
• Frantz Ward, Ohio's Pay Stub Protection Act † — effective date of April 9, 2025, contents and delivery options.
• Amundsen Davis, Ohio pay stub requirements † — contents, hourly employee fields, ten-day request.
• ORC 4113.14 (official text) † — the enacted statute. Not reachable by our automated check on 2026-10-20 (connection refused).
• 29 CFR 516.5 — payroll records are preserved for 3 years under the FLSA.

† 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.