Kentucky: Pay Stub Requirements
The short answer
Kentucky has a narrow deduction-statement rule, not a full pay-stub field list. An employer with at least 10 employees that makes deductions from wages or salaries must give each employee, at the time of payment, a paper or electronic statement showing the amount and general purpose of every deduction; an electronic statement requires employer-provided access to a computer and printer. A violation carries a $100-to-$1,000 civil penalty per offense, and each day the failure continues is a separate offense.
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This is the general rule in Kentucky. Ezel applies current Kentucky law to your specific facts and answers with citations to the statutes.
| Governing law and coverage | KRS § 337.070; applies only to employers with 10+ employees that make deductions from salaries or wages |
|---|---|
| Must provide a statement and when | Paper or electronic deduction statement at the time each salary or wage payment is made (§ 337.070); no deduction means this section does not trigger a general stub |
| Pay period, employer, and employee identification | No state-mandated pay-period dates, employer/employee name, address, phone, employee-number, or SSN field on this limited statement |
| Gross earnings, hours, rates, and pay basis | No state-mandated gross pay, hours, rates, overtime, salary, commission, piece-unit, shift, assignment, or other earnings-basis field on the § 337.070 statement |
| Deductions, net pay, allowances, and other required items | Must give the amount of each deduction and its general purpose; no net-pay, allowance, tip, leave-balance, or employer-contribution field stated (§ 337.070) |
| Electronic delivery, consent, printing, and storage | Paper or electronic allowed; for electronic delivery, employer must provide computer and printer access for employee review and printing; no consent, opt-out, or storage condition stated (§ 337.070) |
| Employee copy access and employer retention | Separate payroll records of pay-period amounts and daily/weekly hours kept at least 1 year for commissioner inspection; no general employee historical-statement copy route stated (§ 337.320) |
| Enforcement, damages, penalties, and deadlines | $100-$1,000 civil penalty per § 337.070 offense; each day the failure continues is a separate offense; no statement-only employee damages, fees, cure, or limitations rule stated (§ 337.990(6)) |
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Requirements one by one
Which employers must give the statement
KRS § 337.070 applies to employers that employ at least 10 people and make
deductions from employee salaries or wages. The same sentence says the rule
applies whether the employer pays "by check or otherwise." This is a limited
deduction-statement duty, not a universal requirement that every Kentucky
employer issue a full pay stub.
When and what the employer must provide
At the time it pays salary or wages, a covered employer must furnish each
employee a paper or electronic statement. The statement must give "the amount
of each deduction and the general purpose for which the deduction is made."
Section 337.070 does not add gross pay, net pay, hours, rates, pay-period dates,
or party-identification fields to that employee-facing statement.
Electronic statements
Kentucky expressly permits an electronic statement. If the employer uses that
option, § 337.070 says the employer "shall provide access to a computer and
printer for review and printing by the employee." The section does not state a
consent, paper opt-out, or electronic-storage requirement.
Records and access
KRS § 337.320 separately requires records of the amount paid each pay period
and the hours worked each day and week. Those records must remain on file for
at least one year. The statute opens them to the commissioner or an authorized
representative and lets the commissioner demand a sworn statement; it does not
state a general current- or former-employee procedure for historical copies.
Penalty
KRS § 337.990(6) assesses $100 to $1,000 for each failure to comply with the
deduction-statement rule. It also says each day the failure continues is a
separate offense. The cited statement provisions do not state employee
statutory damages, attorney fees, a cure period, or a statement-only limitations
period.
What trips people up
The 10-employee threshold is only half the trigger. Section 337.070 also speaks
to employers "making deductions" from wages or salaries. It does not create a
general statement duty for an employer that meets the headcount but makes no
deductions.
Do not copy fields from the employer's payroll records onto the employee-facing
statement. Section 337.320 makes amounts paid and hours worked part of the
employer's compliance records, but § 337.070's delivered statement lists only
each deduction amount and its general purpose.
Common questions
May an electronic statement require the employee to find a printer elsewhere?
The statute puts the access duty on the employer. An employer choosing an
electronic statement must provide access to both a computer and a printer for
review and printing.
Must the statement identify the exact recipient or legal authority for a deduction?
Section 337.070 requires the amount of each deduction and its general purpose.
It does not prescribe an exact label, identify a required recipient field, or
require a statutory citation on the statement.
Statutes and sources
- KRS § 337.070. Ten-employee and deduction trigger, payment-time delivery,
required deduction information, and electronic computer/printer access.
Official text
(accessed July 14, 2026). - KRS § 337.320. One-year employer records of pay-period amounts and
daily/weekly hours, with commissioner inspection and transcript access.
Official text
(accessed July 14, 2026). - KRS § 337.990(6). Civil penalty and continuing-day rule for failure to
comply with § 337.070. Official
text
(accessed July 14, 2026).
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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