Pay Frequency and Wage-Payment Lag Requirements in West Virginia

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Ordinary employers must use at least two paydays each month

W. Va. Code § 21-5-3(a) requires every covered nonrailroad employer to settle with employees at least twice every month, with no more than 19 days between settlements. W. Va. Code R. § 42-5-7.2 restates the same rule in payday terms. A weekly, biweekly, or semimonthly schedule can comply; a schedule with a gap longer than 19 days cannot unless the Commissioner has approved a special agreement.

The Act's coverage is broad. W. Va. Code § 21-5-1(b), (m)-(n) covers persons suffered or permitted to work for employers doing business in West Virginia, while excluding workers properly classified as independent contractors.

The wage-due cutoff is twelve days before payday

Under W. Va. Code § 21-5-1(i), wages due on a regular payday include at least all wages earned through the twelfth day immediately before that payday. For example, a July 19 payday must include wages earned through July 7. The employer may use a later cutoff and pay more recent work on that payday, but may not move the statutory cutoff earlier.

The Act does not prescribe one maximum number of days in each pay period. Instead, the employer establishes the pay period, and the 19-day maximum between paydays and the twelve-day wage-due cutoff operate together.

Establish the schedule and give advance notice of changes

W. Va. Code R. § 42-5-4.1 requires the employer to establish a workweek, pay period, and payday and notify employees in writing or through an accessible posted notice. Under § 42-5-4.2, a change to the pay period or time of payment requires written notice to the affected employee at least one full pay period before the change takes effect. The Act itself also requires written hiring notice of the day, hour, and place of payment under W. Va. Code § 21-5-9(1).

If a regular payday is a specific date on which the employer is closed, W. Va. Code R. § 42-5-7.4 moves payment to the immediately preceding day the employer is open.

The current implementing rule is scheduled to terminate on July 1, 2029 under W. Va. Code R. §§ 42-5-1.3 to -1.5. The statutory twice-monthly rule remains separate from that regulatory sunset.

Special agreements and railroads use different schedules

A “special agreement” is not a private handshake. W. Va. Code § 21-5-1(f) requires it to be filed with and approved by the Commissioner upon a compelling showing of good cause. It may permit regular paydays less frequent than every two weeks, but never less frequent than once each calendar month.

Railroads are outside the general § 21-5-3 schedule. W. Va. Code § 21-5-2 requires first-half wages to be paid by the first day of the next month and second-half wages by the fifteenth day of the next month. A railroad may pay more frequently, but an agreement for a slower schedule is void.

Employees may use agency or court enforcement

An employee alleging unpaid wages or another violation may submit a request for assistance under W. Va. Code R. § 42-5-10.1. The Division investigates and determines whether the employer violated the Act or rule. W. Va. Code § 21-5-11(a) and § 21-5-12 also authorize administrative investigation and a legal action by the employee or, at the employee's request, the Commissioner. If a plaintiff wins a judgment, the court may assess costs and reasonable attorney fees against the employer.

What trips people up

“Twice every month” and “every two weeks” are not identical schedules. A biweekly payroll ordinarily complies because its gaps are fourteen days, but the statute's direct commands are at least two settlements in each month and no more than 19 days between them.

The twelve-day language is a payday cutoff, not permission to add twelve days after every employer-defined pay period without checking the calendar. Each payday must include all work through the statutory cutoff, regardless of how the employer labels its internal payroll periods.

The one-full-pay-period notice rule applies to changes in the pay period or time of payment. Merely posting a changed schedule on its effective date does not satisfy W. Va. Code R. § 42-5-4.2's advance written-notice requirement to the affected employee.

Common questions

May a West Virginia employer pay monthly?

Only under a special agreement filed with and approved by the Commissioner. Even then, employees must be paid in full at least once each calendar month.

How recent may unpaid work be on a regular payday?

The paycheck must include at least all wages earned through the twelfth day before payday. The employer may include wages earned after that cutoff too.

What if the employer is closed on the scheduled payday?

When the regular payday is a specific date and the employer is closed, payment is due on the immediately preceding day the employer is open.

Statutes and sources

• W. Va. Code § 21-5-1(b), (f), (i), (m)-(n). Coverage definitions, approved special agreements, monthly floor, and wage-due cutoff. Official Division of Labor text (accessed July 12, 2026).
• W. Va. Code § 21-5-2. Railroad payment dates and prohibition on slower private schedules. Official Division of Labor text (accessed July 12, 2026).
• W. Va. Code § 21-5-3(a). Twice-monthly frequency and 19-day maximum between settlements. Official Division of Labor text (accessed July 12, 2026).
• W. Va. Code § 21-5-9(1)-(2). Hiring notice and advance notice of changes to payment arrangements. Official Division of Labor text (accessed July 12, 2026).
• W. Va. Code § 21-5-11(a) and § 21-5-12. Administrative investigation, legal action, costs, and attorney fees. Official Division of Labor text (accessed July 12, 2026).
• W. Va. Code R. §§ 42-5-4.1 to -4.2, 42-5-7.1 to -7.4, 42-5-10.1 to -10.3. Schedule establishment and changes, recurring-pay requirements, closed-day rule, and Division investigation. Official Division of Labor rule (accessed July 12, 2026).
• W. Va. Code R. §§ 42-5-1.3 to -1.5. Filing date, effective date, and July 1, 2029 sunset. Official Division of Labor rule (accessed July 12, 2026).