Payday Requirements

State Payday Laws

Below is a chart of state payday requirements in brief, under state payday laws (employment or labor laws). The chart indicates how often employers must pay employees in each state, if applicable, such as weekly, biweekly (every two weeks), semimonthly (twice monthly) or monthly.

Employers may pay employees sooner or more frequently than the minimum periods mandated by state payday laws, but not later or less frequently unless a state law allows such an exception (noted in the chart).

Because independent contractors (ICs) are not employees in the legal sense (unless misclassified), state payday laws typically do not apply to them.

Instead, IC payday requirements are a matter of contractual agreement. It's not unusual for employers (clients) to contractually pay ICs 30 days in arrears, the same as they pay vendors.

Payday requirements for union workers might be a matter of agreement too, per collective bargaining agreements. Typically, contractual agreements may mandate more frequent paydays than the state law requires for employees, but not fewer unless the law allows the exception.

Be sure to read the footnote indicated for your work state in the State Payday Laws Chart, if applicable. If your occupation, industry or some other particular aspect of your job is not mentioned in the footnote, then it either falls within the payday period indicated or there is no payday law that specifically covers it (your employer may decide how to often to pay you).

State Payday Laws Chart

State Payday Laws Footnotes

¹ Alabama and South Carolina: No state payday laws or related regulations, or payday requirements not specified. However, South Carolina employers with five or more employees must give written notice to newly-hired employees about payday periods and places of payment, and then the employers must adhere to same.
² Illinois, Nevada, New Mexico and Virginia: Monthly paydays are for Executive, Administrative and Professional personnel.
³ Arizona: Payday two or more days per month and not more than 16 days apart.
⁴ Connecticut: Up to monthly permitted if approved by labor commissioner.
⁵ Hawaii: Employees may elect to be paid monthly under special election procedure. Director of labor and industrial relations may approve exceptions to the general semimonthly payday requirement. Applies only to employees working in the private sector.
⁶ Iowa: Payday requirement is any, as long as it's at regular intervals and employees are paid at least monthly and no more than 12 days (excluding Sundays and legal holidays) after the period in which they earned the wages. Can be waived by written agreement. Commission employees have different payday requirements.
⁷ Louisiana: Payment is required once every two weeks or twice monthly. Applies to businesses employing 10 or more employees and engaged in manufacturing, mining or oil drilling. Also applies to every public-service corporation.
⁸ Maine: Paydays must be at regular intervals of no more than 16 days.
⁹ California and Michigan: Payday intervals depend on occupation.
¹⁰ Minnesota: Payday must be within 24 hours for employees engaged in transitory employment (migrant workers) requiring the employees to change where they live, because their employment was terminated after completion of work or because they were discharged or quit.
¹¹ Mississippi: Payment is required once every two weeks or twice monthly. Applies to all businesses engaged in manufacturing of any kind employing 50 or more employees and employing public labor, and to every public service corporation doing business in the state.
¹² Montana: Employers must pay wages within 10 business days after due and payable.
¹³ Nebraska and Pennsylvania: Employers determine paydays.
¹⁴ New York: Paydays once per week for manual workers or twice monthly upon approval. At least twice monthly for clerical and other workers.
¹⁵ North Carolina: No state payday law or related regulations, or payday requirements are not specified.
¹⁶ Rhode Island: Weekly, but childcare providers may choose to be paid biweekly.
¹⁷ Texas: Monthly payday requirement is for employees who are exempt from overtime.
¹⁸ Utah: Paydays must be at regular intervals at least twice monthly.
¹⁹ Vermont: Weekly, but employers may implement biweekly and semimonthly paydays with written notice.
²⁰ Virginia: Employees who earn more than 150 percent of the average weekly wage in the state may be paid monthly if each affected employee agrees.
²¹ Florida: Minimum payday requirement shown is only for state officers and employees. May be biweekly or semimonthly, if requested by the head of a state agency and approved by the Executive Office of the Governor and the Department of Financial Services. Minimum payday requirement for private-sector employees is not specified in the payday law.

State Payday Laws Source

State payday law requirements and related footnotes were complied from data provided by the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL).

State payday requirements were effective as of January 1, 2012, according to the WHD; but, of course, state payday laws are subject to change. To verify that the chart is still up to date for your work state or for more information about a state payday law, start by checking with the wage and hour (or equivalent) division of the relevant state labor department.

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