Pay Frequency and Wage-Payment Lag Requirements in Ohio

At a glance

Requirements one by one

The statutory semimonthly calendar

R.C. 4113.15(A) divides the month in half. Wages earned from the first through the fifteenth must be paid by the first day of the next month. Wages earned from the sixteenth through month-end must be paid by the fifteenth of the next month. Daily and weekly payrolls are expressly allowed because they pay more frequently than the default.

For example, wages earned July 1-15 are due by August 1, and wages earned July 16-31 are due by August 15, unless a recognized alternative interval applies.

Custom, contract, or law may set a longer interval

The last sentence of subsection (A) recognizes a longer time lapse customary to a trade, profession, or occupation, and a different lapse established by written contract or operation of law. That makes Ohio's rule different from a hard semimonthly floor. But R.C. 4113.16 says an employer cannot use a special contract or other device to exempt itself from the wage-payment statute altogether.

Late-payment consequence

Under subsection (B), liquidated damages attach when undisputed wages remain unpaid 30 days beyond the regular payday. The amount is 6% of the claim still unpaid and not disputed, or $200, whichever is greater. R.C. 4113.99(A) separately makes a violation of § 4113.15 a first-degree misdemeanor.

What trips people up

The first and fifteenth are payment deadlines tied to the prior half-month, not pay-period ending dates. Reading them as the dates on which the earning period closes shifts the entire calendar and understates the lag.

Ohio permits a longer interval in the circumstances stated in subsection (A), so the semimonthly calendar is a default rather than an exceptionless universal minimum. A claimed alternative should be traceable to the trade custom, written contract, or law that supplies it.

The liquidated-damages clock does not start on the day work was performed. It requires wages to remain unpaid for 30 days beyond the regular payday and excludes amounts accounted for by a contest, court order, dispute, or asserted counterclaim.

Common questions

Can an Ohio employer pay weekly?

Yes. R.C. 4113.15(A) expressly says the section does not prohibit daily or weekly wage payment.

Is monthly payroll always illegal?

No. A longer lapse may be valid when customary to the trade, profession, or occupation, or established by written contract or operation of law. The basis for the alternative must be real; an employer cannot contract out of the Act entirely.

Does Ohio require notice before changing payday?

R.C. 4113.15 recognizes a different lapse established by written contract but does not state a general advance-notice period for changing a regular payday.

Statutes and sources

• R.C. 4113.15(A). Semimonthly default, more-frequent pay, and recognized alternative intervals. Official text (accessed July 12, 2026).
• R.C. 4113.15(B). Thirty-day trigger and liquidated-damages formula. Official enrolled text (accessed August 21, 2026).
• R.C. 4113.15(D)(4). Employer definition and franchisor exclusion. Official text (accessed July 12, 2026).
• R.C. 4113.16. Anti-waiver provision. Official text (accessed July 12, 2026).
• R.C. 4113.99(A). First-degree-misdemeanor penalty. Official text (accessed July 12, 2026).
• HB 277/SB 423 (136th General Assembly). Pending platform-worker classification proposal. Official SB 423 status (checked September 9, 2026).