Pennsylvania: Pay Stub Requirements

Requirements one by one

Coverage follows the Minimum Wage Act

Section 231.11 makes Chapter 231's coverage conditional. The chapter applies to
employees and employment classes that are not excluded, excepted, or exempted
under sections 3, 4, or 5 of the Minimum Wage Act. The detailed statement rule
therefore should not be described as a rule for every possible Pennsylvania
worker without first checking those Act provisions.

The statement accompanies every wage payment

For a covered employee, 34 Pa. Code § 231.36 requires a statement “with every
payment of wages.” Its list is compact: hours worked, rates paid, gross wages,
minimum-wage allowances if claimed, deductions, and net wages.

The employee-facing list does not include pay-period dates, payment date, party
names or addresses, an employee number, separate regular and overtime hours,
piece units, or a stated salary or commission basis. Some of that information
appears in the employer's separate payroll-record duty, but § 231.36 does not
move it onto the employee's statement.

The rule does not define electronic delivery

Section 231.36 requires the employer to furnish a statement but does not say
whether the medium may or must be paper or electronic. It also states no
employee-consent, paper-opt-out, access, printing, downloading, or storage
condition. An electronic-delivery conclusion should not be inferred from this
text alone.

The underlying payroll records last three years

Under 34 Pa. Code § 231.31(a), the employer must keep a true, accurate, and
legible record for each employee for three years after the last entry. Those
records include employee identity, hours, wage components, additions and
deductions, allowances, payment date, and the pay period covered.

Section 231.31(c) requires centrally kept records to be available at the place
of employment within seven calendar days after notice from the Secretary or an
authorized representative. That is an agency-inspection route, not a current or
former employee's statutory copy-request procedure.

Enforcement runs through the Minimum Wage Act penalty

Section 231.12 says an employer or specified agent who violates Chapter 231 is,
upon conviction, punished under section 12(c) of the Minimum Wage Act. The cited
regulation does not create a separate per-statement damages amount, attorney-fee
award, cure process, or claim deadline for a missing or inaccurate statement.

What trips people up

The statement and the retained payroll record are different lists. Section
231.31 requires the employer to keep pay-period dates and other details, but the
employee-facing § 231.36 list does not require every retained field on the stub.

The word “every” in § 231.36 describes timing for covered employees. It does not
erase § 231.11's coverage limitation for employment excluded, excepted, or
exempted under the Act.

Silence about format is not affirmative electronic authorization. The cited
Pennsylvania rule supplies neither an electronic safe harbor nor conditions for
one.

Common questions

Must the statement show net wages?

Yes. Section 231.36 expressly lists both gross wages and net wages, with
deductions between them.

Must it identify the pay-period start and end dates?

Not under the employee-facing list in § 231.36. Section 231.31 requires the
employer's retained record to show the pay period covered, but that is a separate
recordkeeping duty.

Does the regulation give a former employee a right to old stubs?

The cited provisions state a three-year employer-retention duty and an
agency-inspection process. They do not state a current- or former-employee copy
right, response deadline, or reproduction fee.

Statutes and sources

• 34 Pa. Code § 231.11. Coverage tied to the Minimum Wage Act's exclusions,
  exceptions, and exemptions. Official
  text
  (accessed July 13, 2026).
• 34 Pa. Code § 231.36. Every-payment statement duty and required fields.
  Official text
  (accessed July 13, 2026).
• 34 Pa. Code § 231.31. Three-year payroll-record retention and agency
  inspection. Official text
  (accessed July 13, 2026).
• 34 Pa. Code § 231.12. Chapter-violation penalty cross-reference. Official
  text
  (accessed July 13, 2026).