Pay Stub Requirements in Delaware

At a glance

Requirements one by one

The statement duty begins with the fourth employee

Section 1108 applies to an employer “of over 3 employees.” The chapter's employee definition excludes employees of the federal government, Delaware or its political subdivisions, and independent contractors.

The threshold belongs to the employer, not to a particular payroll run. An employer with four or more employees must furnish the statement to each covered employee at the time of payment.

The payday statement has four core fields

The employer may put the statement on the check or furnish a separate slip. It must show the wages due, the pay period for which those wages are due, and the total deductions, separately specified.

For an employee paid at an hourly rate, the statement must also show the total number of hours for that pay period. Section 1108(4) does not list pay rates, net pay, employer or employee identifiers, pay date, piece-rate units, tips, allowances, leave balances, or employer contributions.

An electronic statement must be retainable

Electronic delivery is expressly allowed if the statement is in a form the employee can retain. The statute does not require advance consent to electronic delivery.

An employee who receives the statement electronically may request a written version on a separate slip. Section 1108(4) states no request format, response deadline, cost rule, continuing portal-access period, or separate employer-provided printing requirement.

Three-year records are broader than statement-copy retention

Under § 1108(6), the employer must make, keep, and preserve the records specified in the chapter, including wage and hour records, for at least three years. They may be kept at the workplace or at one or more central recordkeeping offices.

The provision does not expressly say that a duplicate of each employee-facing statement must be kept. Nor does it create a current- or former-employee process to inspect or obtain historical statements.

A general chapter penalty reaches the statement duty

Section 1112(a) applies to an employer that violates or fails to comply with any chapter requirement. The civil penalty is at least $1,000 and at most $5,000 for each violation, and subsection (d) says a civil-penalty claim may be filed in a court of competent jurisdiction.

The employee remedy in § 1113(a) is worded as a civil action to recover unpaid wages and liquidated damages. That unpaid-wage remedy should not be presented as an automatic private damages formula for a statement-only defect.

What trips people up

“Over 3 employees” means four or more. The statement mandate does not begin at three employees.

Only hourly-paid employees have the total-hours field. The statute does not require the same hours entry for every salaried or other nonhourly employee.

The right to request a written slip does not add terms the statute never states. Section 1108 does not specify how quickly the employer must respond or say that the written copy must be free.

Common questions

Must the statement show net pay?

No net-pay field appears in § 1108(4). The required amounts are wages due and deductions, separately specified.

Can the employer use an online payroll portal?

Yes, if the electronic statement is in a form the employee can retain. The employee may request a written statement on a separate slip.

Must a salaried employee's statement show hours?

The total-hours requirement is written for an employee paid at an hourly rate. The section does not state a general hours field for nonhourly employees.

Statutes and sources

• 19 Del. C. § 1101(a)(4)-(5). Chapter coverage and exclusions. Official text (accessed July 14, 2026).
• 19 Del. C. § 1108(4), (6). Employer-size threshold, payment-time statement, required fields, electronic delivery, written-slip request, and three-year records. Official text (accessed July 14, 2026).
• 19 Del. C. §§ 1112(a), (d) and 1113(a). General chapter civil penalty, court filing, and the unpaid-wage private-action boundary. Official text (accessed July 14, 2026).