Your employer is required to pay you in a timely manner. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) was created to ensure fair treatment of employees. The FLSA applies to companies that employ 15 or more people. The FLSA sets federal minimum wage and establishes that non-exempt employees must be paid overtime if they work more than 40 hours per week.
Each state has its own laws regarding payday. The laws establish the maximum timeframe that is allowable between the end of a pay period and when a paycheck is distributed. The laws can vary from one state to the next, so you should consult with an employment law attorney who knows the state and federal laws that apply to paydays.
The state payday requirements could be weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly, monthly, or there may not be a set timeframe requirement. Check the state laws to determine the requirements in your state. An employment law attorney will be able to help you if you are not paid in a timely manner. Your attorney will be able to ensure that you are paid on time, and if you are not paid in a timely manner that you recover compensation for your damages.
State Pay Requirements
The frequency of the paydays that are required depend on the occupation in California and Michigan. In California, the payday could range from weekly to bi-weekly to semi-monthly. In Michigan, depending on your job, your payday could be weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly, or monthly.
In Alaska, paydays can be semi-monthly or monthly. In Arizona, bi-monthly paydays can be made just so long as paydays are made two or more times each month no more than 16 days apart. In Arkansas, paydays must be made at least semi-monthly. Colorado, Delaware, allows monthly paydays.
Connecticut calls for weekly pay, but longer intervals – of even as long as month – are allowed if the labor commissioner approves it. Georgia and the District of Columbia call for semi-monthly paydays.
Hawaii calls for semi-monthly paydays, but employees may choose monthly paydays through a special election process and the director of labor and industrial relations may grant an exception to the general semi-monthly requirement, but these rules only apply to private sector employers.
Idaho sets monthly paydays, and Illinois has semi-monthly paydays but monthly payday requirements for those on the professional, executive, and administrative level. Indiana calls for bi-weekly or semi-monthly paydays.
In Iowa, any predictable and reliable pay schedule is allowed just so long as the employee is paid at least once a month and no later than 12 days from the end of the period when those wages were earned, but it can be waived by written agreement.
Illinois requires semi-monthly paydays, but monthly payday requirements are set for administrative, executive, and professional personnel. Kansas has monthly payday requirements while Kentucky requires semi-monthly payments.
Louisiana calls for bi-weekly checks or semi-monthly paychecks, but it is applicable to entities employing 10 or more employees that are engaged in manufacturing, mining, or boring for oil, and to every public service corporation. Payment is required no less than twice during each calendar month.
In Maine employees must be paid at regular intervals no longer than 16 days. Maryland workers must be paid bi-weekly or semi-monthly, and in Massachusetts, semi-monthly or monthly payments may be allowed in some situations but otherwise paydays are to be weekly or bi-weekly.
Minnesota laws require employers to pay their employees for all wages including salary, earnings and gratuities at least once every 31 days, and all commissions earned by an employee at least once every three months on a regular payday. Employees engaged in transitory employment must be paid at intervals of not more than 15 days. Employees of “public service corporations doing business within this state” are required to be paid at least semimonthly the wages earned by them to within 15 days of the date of such payment, unless prevented by inevitable casualty.
Mississippi laws are very precise, and they are applicable to every entity engaged in manufacturing of any kind in the State employing 50 or more employees and employing public labor, and to every public service corporation doing business in the State. Payment is required once every two weeks or twice during each calendar month.
Nebraska allows employers to designate paydays, and Nevada has monthly payday requirements for executive, administrative, and professional personnel. In New Hampshire there is a requirement for weekly or bi-weekly paydays and semi-monthly or monthly paydays of wages are available with written permission of the state board.
In New Jersey, the employer can pay the supervisory, executive, or other special classified employees once a month. New Mexico has monthly payday requirements for administrative, professional, and executive personnel. In New York, manual workers must be paid weekly, and semi-monthly payday is allowed for manual workers, clerical employees, and other workers upon approval.
North Carolina doesn’t specify paydays, and they can be daily, weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly, or monthly. North Dakota and Oregon require paydays at least once monthly, and Ohio and Oklahoma require semi-monthly paydays.
In Rhode Island, paydays are to be weekly with childcare providers having the option of being paid every two weeks, but employers that meet certain requirements can ask to make payments twice each month.
South Dakota requires monthly paychecks while Tennessee requires semi-monthly pay dates. In Vermont, if there is written notice employers can pay semi-monthly or monthly. In Virginia, workers whose weekly wages total more than 150 percent of the average weekly wage of the Commonwealth may be paid monthly, upon agreement of each affected employee.
Washington allows for monthly paychecks, West Virginia and Wyoming calls for semi-monthly paychecks. In Wisconsin, most employers must pay workers all wages earned at least monthly, with no longer than 31 days between pay periods. The only employees exempted from this requirement are: employees engaged in logging (must be paid at least quarterly), those engaged in farm labor (must be paid at least quarterly), unclassified employees of the UW system (left to the system), part-time firefighters and part-time emergency medical technicians (must be paid at regular intervals, at least annually), school employees who voluntarily request payment over a 12-month period, and employees covered under a valid collective bargaining agreement establishing a different frequency for wage payments.
Getting an Employment Lawyer’s Help
If you are not being paid according to state law, you may want to consult with an employment law attorney. A lawyer will file a claim and ensure that you are paid in a timely manner. Complete the Free Case Evaluation Form on this page to determine the best way to proceed with your claim.
