Minimum payroll frequencies are determined by each state and can be quite confusing.  I’m often asked “How often do I have to pay my employees” during a Certified Payroll Training Webinar.  State minimum paycheck frequencies are shown below – this information comes directly from the U.S. Department of Labor’s website.

It’s difficult to thoroughly cover the requirements of all 50 states in a 2 hour webinar, but it has crossed my mind that a series of blog posts on the differences between what State Laws are for how often payroll must be generated and how that can effect the generation of a certified payroll report would be a good thing to do.  While I could have simply started this series and talked about the complexities of generating certified payroll reports when issuing employee payroll on anything other than a weekly basis  – I first wanted to display the requirements by state, rather than just put off a link to the U.S. Department of Labor website.

Under the Federal Davis-Bacon and related Acts; contractors and subcontractors performing work on Federal or Federally-aided construction-type contracts are required to submit weekly payrolls.  The Copeland Act provides further/clearer requirements; indicating that contractors and subcontractors performing work on Federally financed or assisted construction contracts “furnish weekly a statement with respect to the wages paid to each employee during the preceding week”.

Obviously, contractors and subcontractors who issue their payroll on a weekly basis find the necessary information easier to obtain; therefore, making compliance simpler to obtain.

1. Alabama and South Carolina – No regulations or not specified.
2. Illinois, Nevada, New Mexico and Virginia – Monthly payday requirements for Executive, Administrative, and Professional personnel.
3. Arizona – Payday two or more days in a month, not more than 16 days apart.
4. Connecticut – Longer interval (up to monthly) permitted if approved by Labor Commissioner.
5. Hawaii – Employees may choose to be paid on a monthly basis under special election procedure.  Director of Labor and Industrial Relations also may grant exceptions to the general semi-monthly payday requirement.  Payday requirement applies only to private sector employment.
6. Iowa – Any predictable and reliable pay schedule is permitted as long as employees get paid at least monthly and no later than 12 days {excluding Sundays and legal holidays} from the end of the period when the wages were earned.  This can be waived by written agreement; employees on commission have different requirements.
7. Louisiana – Applicable to entities engaged in manufacturing, mining, or boring for oil, employing 10 or more employees, and to every public service corporation.  Payment is required once every two weeks or twice during each calendar month.
8. Maine – Payment due at regular intervals not to exceed 16 days.
9. California and Michigan – Frequency of payday depends on the occupation.
10. Minnesota – Employees engaged in transitory employment, i.e. migrant workers, which require and employee to change the employee’s pace of abode, because the employment is terminated wither by the completion of the work or by the discharge or quitting of the employee must be paid within 24 hours.
11. Mississippi – 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.
12. Montana – Wages must be paid within 10 business days after the wages are due and payable.
13. Nebraska and Pennsylvania – Payday designated by employer.
14. New York – Weekly payday for manual workers.  Semi-monthly payday upon approval for manual workers and for clerical and other workers.
15. North Carolina – None specified, pay periods may be daily, weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly or monthly.
16. Rhode Island – Childcare providers shall have the option to be paid every two weeks.
17. Texas – Monthly payday for employees exempt from overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
18. Utah – Payments are to be paid at regular intervals but in periods no longer than semi-monthly.
19. Vermont – Employers may implement bi-weekly and semi-monthly payday with written notice
20. Virginia – Employees whose weekly wages total more than 150% of the average weekly wage of the Commonwealth may be paid monthly, upon agreement of each affected employee.

NOTE:  South Carolina – Employers with 5 or more employees are required to give written notice at the time of hiring to all employees advising them of their wages agreed upon, and the time and place of payment along with their expected hours of work.  The employer must pay on the normal time and at the place of payment established by the employer.

Stay tuned over the next week to find out some of the problems that can occur when a company follows various state payroll requirements {bi-weekly, semi-monthly, and monthly paychecks} and how the pay frequencies affect the submission of their certified payroll reports.