Pay stub requirements in Delaware

01 — The law

What Delaware law requires

1. 01

   A statement at the time of payment, in any of three forms

   The employer must furnish to each employee at the time of payment a statement, either on the check, or by a separate slip, or electronically so long as the electronic statement is in a form capable of being retained by the employee, showing the wages due, the pay period for which they are due and the total amount of deductions separately specified. For an employee paid at an hourly rate it must also show the total number of hours for the pay period, and where it comes electronically the employee may request it in written form on a separate slip.

   Delaware Code Title 19, Chapter 11 - Wage Payment and Collection →
2. 02

   The duty begins above three employees

   Section 1108 states its obligations as those of every employer of over 3 employees, so the smallest workplaces fall outside it. That boundary covers the whole section at once: the hiring notice, the posted notices, the payday statement and the three-year record-keeping duty all begin at the same headcount.

   Delaware Code Title 19, Chapter 11 - Wage Payment and Collection →
3. 03

   Monthly at minimum, seven days after the period closes

   Every employer shall pay all wages due on regular paydays designated in advance, at least once during each calendar month, and shall pay all wages due within 7 days from the close of the pay period in which they were earned. Where the regular payday falls inside a pay period of no more than 16 days, overtime, new hires and variable-time part-timers may be carried to the next pay period.

   Delaware Code Title 19, Chapter 11 - Wage Payment and Collection →
4. 04

   Three gates for withholding, and nothing outside them

   No employer may withhold or divert any portion of the wages of an employee unless the employer is required or empowered to do so by state or federal law, the deduction is for medical, surgical or hospital care or service without financial benefit to the employer and openly and clearly recorded in the books of the employer, or the employee has given a signed authorization for a lawful purpose accruing to the benefit of the employee.

   Delaware Code Title 19, Chapter 11 - Wage Payment and Collection →
5. 05

   Notice at hiring, and before any cut in pay

   Covered employers must notify each employee in writing at the time of hiring of the rate of pay and of the day, hour and place of payment, and must give written or posted notice of any reduction in the regular rate of pay, or in the day, hour and place of payment, before the reduction takes effect. Practices and policies on vacation pay, sick leave and comparable matters must be made available in writing or by posted notice.

   Delaware Code Title 19, Chapter 11 - Wage Payment and Collection →
6. 06

   Fifteen dollars, the last step of a four-year schedule

   Section 902 sets the minimum wage at not less than $15.00 per hour effective 1 January 2025, the final step of a schedule that ran $10.50 in 2022, $11.75 in 2023 and $13.25 in 2024, so 2026 carries the same figure. On the establishment of a federal minimum wage above the state one, the state rate rises to match it.

   Delaware Code Title 19, Chapter 9 - Minimum Wage →

02 — Local rates

Local rates above the Delaware minimum

03 — What we calculate

What this generator calculates for Delaware

State withholding for Delaware is calculated from the 2026 figures the state publishes, and our test suite holds those figures against the state's own published calculation rather than against arithmetic of ours.

04 — Questions

Frequently asked questions

Does Delaware require a pay stub?

Yes, if your employer has more than three employees. At the time of payment you are owed a statement showing the wages due, the pay period they cover and the total of the deductions separately specified, and if you are paid hourly it must also show your total hours for that pay period. Below four employees the section does not reach the workplace at all.

Can my Delaware employer give me an electronic pay stub?

Yes, provided the electronic statement is in a form capable of being retained by you, which rules out anything you can only glance at once. The statute then adds a fallback: where the statement is furnished electronically, an employee may request that it be provided in written form on a separate slip.

What is the Delaware minimum wage in 2026?

Fifteen dollars an hour, unchanged since 1 January 2025. That was the last step written into section 902 after $10.50 in 2022, $11.75 in 2023 and $13.25 in 2024, and no further increase is scheduled in the statute. If the federal minimum wage ever exceeds it, the state rate rises to match.

How often does Delaware require wages to be paid?

At least once during each calendar month on paydays designated in advance, and all wages due must be paid within seven days from the close of the pay period in which they were earned. If the payday falls inside a pay period of sixteen days or less, an employer may defer overtime, the pay of new hires and the pay of variable-time part-timers to the following period.

What can my Delaware employer deduct from my wages?

Only three things: what state or federal law requires or empowers the employer to withhold, deductions for medical, surgical or hospital care that bring the employer no financial benefit and are openly recorded in its books, and deductions you signed an authorization for that serve a lawful purpose accruing to your benefit.