Illinois Pay Stub Requirements & Payroll Taxes

Illinois sits at the strict end of pay stub law: a pay stub every pay period, and since January 1, 2025, three years of record keeping and copies on request — for former employees too — backed by civil penalties of up to $500 per violation. Around that, the state levies a flat 4.95% income tax, guarantees paid leave to nearly every worker, requires meal breaks, and treats earned vacation as wages that cannot be forfeited when someone leaves.

It's a general guide, not legal or tax advice. For your specific situation, check the source links below or talk to a licensed payroll, tax, or employment-law professional.

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Is a pay stub required in Illinois?

Yes. Illinois employers must give each employee a pay stub for each pay period, on paper or electronically. The Wage Payment and Collection Act defines a pay stub as an itemized statement of hours worked, rate of pay, overtime pay and overtime hours, gross wages, deductions, and year-to-date totals of wages and deductions. Amendments in force since January 1, 2025 add three duties: keep a copy of every stub for at least three years from the date of payment, even after the employee leaves; provide copies within 21 calendar days of a request (the employer may require the request in writing and need not grant more than two in any 12 months); and, where a departing employee's electronic access would lapse within a year, offer them the prior year's stubs by the final pay period.

Required on every wage statement — 820 ILCS 115/2 (definitions); 820 ILCS 115/10:

Hours worked
Rate of pay
Overtime pay and overtime hours worked
Gross wages earned
Deductions made from wages
Total wages and deductions, year to date

Penalty for non-compliance (820 ILCS 115/14): Failing to provide a required pay stub can bring a civil penalty of up to $500 per violation, payable to the Department of Labor, which weighs the size of the business and the gravity of the violation. Separately, wages that are underpaid or paid late carry damages of 5% of the underpayment for each month it stays unpaid, and an employer that ignores a Department order owes a further 20% of the amount to the Department and 1% per calendar day to the employee.

How often must employees be paid?

Most employees must be paid at least semi-monthly. Wages of executive, administrative, and professional employees (as defined under the Act) may instead be paid monthly, and commissions may also be paid monthly.

Source: 820 ILCS 115/3

Illinois minimum wage

Illinois reached a $15.00 statewide minimum wage on January 1, 2025, the last step of the schedule set in 2019. The state rate is not indexed to inflation, so it stays at $15.00 until the law changes — but Chicago and suburban Cook County set higher rates of their own that rise every July 1.

$15.00 per hour statewide, effective January 1, 2025Chicago: $17.05 per hour from July 1, 2026 for employers with four or more employees, $12.96 for tipped workers, and the full rate for workers under 18. Suburban Cook County (in municipalities that have not opted out): $15.40 per hour from July 1, 2026, and $9.25 for tipped workers. An employer pays the highest rate that applies where the work is done.

Tipped employees: $9.00 per hour — 60% of the minimum wage — provided tips bring total pay to at least $15.00 an hour.
Employees under 18 who work fewer than 650 hours in a calendar year: $13.00 per hour.

Source: 820 ILCS 105/4; Illinois Department of Labor; Chicago Office of Labor Standards; Cook County Minimum Wage Ordinance

Overtime & double time

The Illinois Minimum Wage Law follows the federal weekly standard: time and a half for hours over 40 in a workweek. Illinois adds no daily overtime, but its One Day Rest in Seven Act separately guarantees a day off each week.

Trigger	Pay rate
Daily overtime	No state daily overtime rule.
Weekly overtime	1.5× the regular rate for hours beyond 40 in a workweek.
7th consecutive workday	No overtime premium for a seventh day, but most employees must get at least 24 consecutive hours of rest in every consecutive seven-day period. Part-time employees working 20 hours or less a week, executives, administrators, professionals and some other groups are exempt.

Source: 820 ILCS 105/4a; 820 ILCS 140/2

Meal & rest break requirements

Employees scheduled to work 7½ continuous hours must get a meal period of at least 20 minutes, starting no later than 5 hours into the work period, plus another 20-minute meal period for every additional 4½ continuous hours worked. Time spent using the restroom does not count toward the meal period. Employees whose meal periods are set by a collective bargaining agreement, and certain on-call monitors and EMS workers, are exempt.

Illinois has no general rest-break requirement for adults. Employees who need to express breast milk must be given reasonable break time for one year after the child's birth, and the employer may not reduce their pay for it. Where an employer allows other short breaks, federal rules make breaks of about 5 to 20 minutes paid time.

If a break is missed:Illinois owes no extra hour of pay for a missed meal period. Violations of the One Day Rest in Seven Act are enforced by the Department of Labor as penalties against the employer rather than as pay on the stub.

Source: 820 ILCS 140/3; 820 ILCS 260/10

Illinois state income tax

Illinois taxes income at a flat 4.95% for 2026. The exemption allowance rose to $2,925 per exemption for 2026, from $2,850 in 2025, with an additional $1,000 for a taxpayer or spouse who is 65 or older or legally blind. The allowance is not available above federal adjusted gross income of $250,000, or $500,000 for joint filers.

Illinois flat individual income tax rate (2026)

Taxable income	Rate
All taxable income	4.95%

There are no graduated brackets. Employers withhold using Booklet IL-700-T: wages minus $2,925 for each Line 1 allowance and $1,000 for each Line 2 allowance on Form IL-W-4, multiplied by 4.95% — which is why Illinois withholding is usually a little below 4.95% of gross pay.

Source: 35 ILCS 5/201; Illinois Dept. of Revenue, Booklet IL-700-T (2026)

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Paid sick leave

Illinois's Paid Leave for All Workers Act, in force since January 1, 2024, gives almost every employee paid leave they can use for any reason, not only illness. Employers covered by the Chicago or Cook County paid leave ordinances follow those local rules instead.

Rule	Detail
Accrual rate	At least 1 hour of paid leave for every 40 hours worked. Employers may instead front-load the full year's leave at the start of the 12-month period.
Minimum available per year	40 hours in a 12-month period; an employer need not allow more than 40 hours of use a year.
Accrual cap	Unused accrued leave carries over to the next year, although use can still be limited to 40 hours a year. Front-loaded leave does not have to carry over.
Eligibility & carryover	Leave accrues from the start of employment; employers may require employees to wait 90 days before using it.

Paid out at termination?Not required for leave under the Act. But if the employer labels the leave as vacation, the Wage Payment and Collection Act's rule applies and earned, unused vacation must be paid out at separation.

Source: 820 ILCS 192 (Paid Leave for All Workers Act); Illinois Department of Labor PLAWA FAQ

Vacation & paid time off (PTO)

Illinois does not require employers to offer vacation, but once a policy or contract grants it, earned vacation is treated as wages. That is the rule that sets Illinois apart from most states: earned vacation cannot be taken away when someone leaves.

Earned vacation is part of final compensation under the Wage Payment and Collection Act and is paid at the employee's final rate of pay.

"Use-it-or-lose-it" policies:Allowed only within limits: a policy may require vacation to be used by a set date, but only if the employee has a reasonable opportunity to take it and had notice of the rule. No policy may forfeit earned vacation upon separation.

Paid out at termination?Yes — the monetary equivalent of all earned, unused vacation, at the final rate of pay, unless a collective bargaining agreement provides otherwise.

Source: 820 ILCS 115/5; 56 Ill. Adm. Code 300.520

Final paycheck rules

Illinois requires final compensation — wages, earned commissions and bonuses, and earned vacation — to be paid at the time of separation if possible, and in no case later than the next regularly scheduled payday. The deadline is the same whether the employee was fired, laid off or quit.

Situation	Final wages due
Fired or laid off	At separation if possible; no later than the next regularly scheduled payday.
Quits or resigns (notice makes no difference)	The same deadline as a discharge. If the employee asks in writing, the final check must be mailed to them.

Late final pay:There is no per-day waiting penalty, but late final pay is an underpayment under the Act: damages of 5% of the unpaid amount for each month it remains unpaid, plus costs and reasonable attorney's fees.

Source: 820 ILCS 115/5; 820 ILCS 115/14

Other Illinois payroll taxes employers should know

Illinois employers pay state unemployment insurance (UI) tax on a comparatively low taxable wage base, with the rate varying by employer experience; Illinois does not impose a separate state disability or paid-family-leave payroll tax on employers.

Tax	Rate	Notes
Unemployment Insurance (UI)	0.750% to 7.050% (2026)	Taxable wage base is $14,250 per employee for 2026; rates include a 0.550% Fund Building Rate add-on and vary by employer experience class.
State Disability Insurance and Paid Family Leave	None	Illinois has neither programme; paid leave under the state Act is paid by the employer as ordinary wages, not through a payroll deduction.

Source: Illinois Dept. of Employment Security (IDES), EA-50 2026 State Experience Factor and Rates

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Common questions about Illinois pay stubs

How do I get copies of old pay stubs in Illinois?

Ask your employer — Illinois law requires copies within 21 calendar days. The employer may ask for the request in writing and need not fill more than two requests in 12 months. Former employees have the same right for up to one year after leaving and can choose a paper or electronic copy. Employers must keep every stub for at least three years.

Are electronic pay stubs legal in Illinois?

Yes. A pay stub can be paper or electronic. If electronic access ends when someone leaves, the employer must offer the departing employee a record of the prior year's stubs by the final pay period and document the offer and the answer.

Why is my Illinois withholding less than 4.95% of my pay?

Because the allowances on your Form IL-W-4 come off first. For 2026 each basic allowance is worth $2,925 a year and each additional allowance $1,000; the 4.95% rate applies to what is left. Claiming fewer allowances raises withholding.

Do Chicago employees follow the state paid leave law?

No. Employers covered by Chicago's paid leave and paid sick leave ordinance, in force since July 1, 2024, or by Cook County's ordinance, follow the local rules instead of the state Act. Chicago's minimum wage is also higher: $17.05 an hour from July 1, 2026.

Guides that go with this page

Illinois's rules decide what has to appear on the stub. These cover what the figures on it actually mean, wherever you work.

What a pay stub is, line by line — Every section of a stub and what each figure means.
Gross pay vs. net pay — Why the amount that reaches your bank is a quarter smaller than your salary.
401(k) contributions on a pay stub — Reading the deduction, the employer match, and the 2026 limits.
Contractors don't get a pay stub — What replaces one, and the 15.3% a 1099 worker pays instead.

Sources & references

Every figure on this page links back to the primary source below. State and federal payroll rules change — always confirm current-year figures directly with the agency before relying on exact dollar amounts.

Last checked: October 2026. See our editorial standards & sources for how these figures are verified.