Kentucky: Pay Frequency and Wage-Payment Lag Requirements

Requirements one by one

Semimonthly frequency and 18-day lag are separate

KRS 337.020 requires covered employers to pay wages or salary at least
semimonthly. Each payment must include wages earned through a date no more than
18 days before payday.

For example, a semimonthly payday on July 31 must include all covered wages
earned through at least July 13. Paying twice in the month does not cure a
schedule that leaves a longer gap between the work date and the payday.

The exception is a specific worker list

Section 337.020 does not incorporate every exemption elsewhere in KRS 337.010.
It expressly points only to § 337.010(2)(a)2., which covers bona fide
executive, administrative, supervisory, and professional employees, outside
salespeople, and outside collectors as defined by regulation.

Missing payday creates a demand right

An employee who was absent at the fixed payment time, or was not paid then for
another reason, must be paid afterward upon six days' demand. Section 337.020
also gives the employee a right of action for the full wages due on each
regular payday.

Under KRS 337.385, a covered underpayment can produce the unpaid wages, an
additional equal amount as liquidated damages, costs, and reasonable attorney
fees. A court may reduce or deny liquidated damages if the employer proves
good faith and reasonable grounds. The Commissioner may also take assignment
of a written wage claim and sue to collect it.

What trips people up

The statute does not say wages are due 18 days after a payroll period closes.
It says each payday must reach back to wages earned through a date no more than
18 days before payment. The safest way to test a schedule is therefore to
identify the latest work date included in each check and count forward to
payday.

Kentucky's current § 337.010 was amended in 2026, but the amendment did not
change the specific executive, administrative, supervisory, professional,
outside-sales, and outside-collector exception used by § 337.020.

Common questions

May a covered Kentucky employer pay monthly?

No. Section 337.020 requires payment as often as semimonthly for covered
employees.

Is the maximum payroll lag 18 days?

Yes, expressed as a lookback rule: each payday must include wages earned
through a date no more than 18 days earlier.

Does the rule cover outside salespeople?

No. Section 337.020 expressly excludes the worker categories in
§ 337.010(2)(a)2., including outside salespeople and outside collectors.

Statutes and sources

• KRS 337.020. Semimonthly payment, 18-day wage lookback, six-day demand,
  action for wages, and coverage cross-reference. Official text
  (accessed July 12, 2026).
• KRS 337.010(2)(a)2. Excluded worker categories. Official text
  (accessed July 12, 2026).
• KRS 337.385. Unpaid wages, liquidated damages, fees, and Commissioner
  assignment of claims. Official text
  (accessed July 12, 2026).