Ohio Pay Stub Requirements & Payroll Taxes

Ohio changed in two ways that matter on a pay stub. Since April 2025 it has had an actual pay stub statute — before that, no Ohio law required an employer to hand you a statement at all — and from the 2026 tax year its state income tax is effectively flat, with the extra bracket that applied above $100,000 in 2025 now gone. What a flat state rate hides is that Ohio stubs are often the busiest in the country, because municipal and school district income taxes are withheld on top.

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 Ohio?

Yes, since April 9, 2025. Ohio Revised Code § 4113.14, added by the Pay Stub Protection Act, requires an employer to give each employee a written or electronic statement — or access to one — for every pay period. Ohio had no such requirement before that date, so guidance written earlier will tell you a pay stub is optional in Ohio. It is not.

Required on every wage statement — Ohio Revised Code § 4113.14 (effective April 9, 2025):

The employee's name
The employee's address
The employer's name
The total gross wages earned during the pay period
The total net wages paid for the pay period
A listing of the amount and purpose of each addition to, or deduction from, wages
The date the employee was paid and the pay period that payment covers
For employees paid by the hour: the total hours worked in the pay period
For employees paid by the hour: the hourly wage rate paid
For employees paid by the hour: hours worked in excess of forty in one workweek

Penalty for non-compliance (Ohio Revised Code § 4113.14): Ohio's remedy is procedural rather than financial, and it starts with you. An employee who does not receive a statement makes a written request to the employer; if nothing arrives within ten days, the employee may report the violation to the Director of Commerce. Where the Director finds reasonable grounds that a violation occurred, the employer is issued a written notice that it must immediately post in a conspicuous place for ten days. There is no per-pay-period damages award of the kind New York attaches to the same failure.

How often must employees be paid?

Ohio requires semi-monthly payment on a specific calendar, not simply "twice a month". Wages earned in the first half of a month — through the fifteenth — must be paid on or before the first day of the following month. Wages earned in the second half must be paid on or before the fifteenth of the following month. That gives employers a longer lag than most states allow, which is why an Ohio pay date can fall more than two weeks after the work.

Source: Ohio Revised Code § 4113.15

Ohio minimum wage

Ohio's minimum wage is set in the state constitution and adjusted every year for inflation, so it rises on January 1 without new legislation. Which rate applies to an employer depends on its annual gross receipts.

$11.00 per hour statewide, effective January 1, 2026The $11.00 rate applies to employers grossing $405,000 or more a year. Employers below that threshold pay the federal minimum wage of $7.25 instead — a split that does not exist in most states and is the first thing to check before assuming the state rate applies.

Tipped employees: $5.50 per hour in direct cash wages plus tips, provided tips bring total earnings to at least the full $11.00 minimum.
Employees under the age of 16: the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.
The rate is indexed annually to inflation under the Ohio Constitution, so it changes each January rather than on a legislative schedule.

Source: Ohio Department of Commerce, 2026 Minimum Wage poster

Overtime & double time

Ohio follows the federal weekly overtime standard and adds nothing to it. There is no daily overtime threshold and no seventh-consecutive-day rule, so hours only become overtime once the workweek passes 40.

Trigger	Pay rate
Daily overtime	No state daily overtime rule — a long single shift does not trigger overtime on its own.
Weekly overtime	1.5× the regular rate for hours worked beyond 40 in a single workweek.
7th consecutive workday	No state seventh-consecutive-day rule.

Source: Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. § 207; Ohio Rev. Code ch. 4111

Ohio state income tax

From the 2026 tax year Ohio's income tax is effectively flat: income at or below $26,050 is exempt, and everything above it is taxed at 2.75%. This is a change from 2025, which still had a second bracket taxing income over $100,000 at 3.125%. The rate applies to Ohio taxable income, not to gross wages — and it is only the state layer of what an Ohio employee pays.

2026 Ohio individual income tax — all filing statuses

Taxable income	Rate
$0 – $26,050	0% (exempt)
Over $26,050	2.75%

The statute expresses the upper band as $332 plus 2.75% of the amount over $26,050, so the effective rate on total income is always below 2.75%. Two things this table does not cover: roughly six hundred Ohio municipalities levy their own income tax, usually withheld by the employer and often with a credit for tax paid to the city where you work rather than where you live; and some school districts levy a separate income tax on residents. Both appear as their own pay stub lines and neither is part of the state schedule above.

Source: Ohio Revised Code § 5747.02

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Final paycheck rules

Ohio is unusual in setting no separate final-paycheck deadline. Final wages are due on the regular payday for the period in which the work was done, under the same semi-monthly calendar as every other paycheck — which means the deadline does not change because employment ended.

Situation	Final wages due
Fired or laid off	Due on the regular payday for the period in which the final work was performed, under the § 4113.15 schedule. There is no accelerated deadline for a discharge.
Quits, resigns or retires (notice makes no difference)	Due on the same regular payday that would have applied had the employee stayed — Ohio draws no distinction based on how the employment ended or whether notice was given.

Late final pay:Where wages remain unpaid for thirty days beyond the regularly scheduled payday, and no court order or genuine dispute accounts for the non-payment, the employer is liable for liquidated damages equal to 6% of the unpaid amount or $200, whichever is greater — in addition to the wages themselves. The thirty-day clock is what gives this teeth; there is no per-day accrual as in California.

Source: Ohio Revised Code § 4113.15

Other Ohio payroll taxes employers should know

The state income tax is the smallest part of what comes out of an Ohio paycheck for many employees. Municipal income tax, and in some districts a school district income tax, are withheld on top of it — which is why an Ohio stub can carry three separate income tax lines where most states carry one. Unemployment insurance is an employer tax and is not deducted from wages.

Tax	Rate	Notes
Municipal income tax — employee deduction	Set by each municipality; commonly in the region of 1% to 3%	Around six hundred Ohio municipalities levy one. It is generally withheld by the employer for the city where the work is performed, with the employee's city of residence often allowing a credit for it. Two different city lines on one stub is normal in Ohio, not an error.
School district income tax — employee deduction	Set by each participating district, where the district's voters have enacted one	Charged on residents of the district rather than on where the work is performed, so it appears for some employees and not others at the same employer. Confirm the district number on your stub matches where you live.
State Unemployment Insurance (SUI) — employer only	0.65% to 12.25% for 2026 depending on the employer's reserve ratio; 2.85% for a new employer and 5.85% for a new construction employer	Taxable wage base is the first $9,000 of each employee's wages per year. Not deducted from employee wages — confirm your own assigned rate on the annual Ohio Department of Job and Family Services notice.
State Disability Insurance and Paid Family Leave	None	Ohio operates neither a state disability insurance programme nor a paid family and medical leave payroll contribution, so neither appears as a deduction the way it does in New York or California.

Source: Ohio Dept. of Job and Family Services, 2026 contribution rate details; Ohio Rev. Code chs. 718, 5748

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Guides that go with this page

Ohio'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.
Pay stub mistakes worth catching early — The errors that are easy to fix this month and hard to fix next year.
Final paycheck checklist — What to verify on your last stub before you lose access to the payroll system.

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.