Pay stub requirements in Massachusetts
Calculated
Massachusetts writes its pay stub rule as one sentence at the end of a long payment statute: when paying an employee, the employer furnishes a suitable pay slip, check stub or envelope showing the employer name, the employee name, the day, month and year, the number of hours worked, the hourly rate and the amounts of deductions or increases for the pay period. The deadlines around it are tight. Most employees are paid weekly or biweekly within six days of the end of the pay period, and an employee who is discharged has to be paid in full on the day of discharge. The minimum wage has been $15.00 since 2023.
- Pay stub required
- Yes, a pay slip with eight items
- Electronic delivery
- The statute names paper forms only
- Minimum wage 2026
- $15.00/hour
- Pay frequency
- Weekly or biweekly for most
01 — The law
What Massachusetts law requires
Eight items on a suitable pay slip
An employer, when paying an employee, shall furnish a suitable pay slip, check stub or envelope showing the name of the employer, the name of the employee, the day, month, year, number of hours worked, hourly rate, and the amounts of deductions or increases made for the pay period. The statute lists paper forms and does not describe an electronic equivalent.
M.G.L. c. 149 § 148 — Payment of wages →Weekly or biweekly, within six days of the period ending
Wages are paid weekly or biweekly, within six days of the end of the pay period for an employee who worked five or six days in a calendar week, or within seven days for an employee who worked seven days. Employees who worked fewer than five days are casual employees and are paid within seven days of the end of that period.
M.G.L. c. 149 § 148 — Payment of wages →Exempt and salaried staff may be paid less often
Employees engaged in a bona fide executive, administrative or professional capacity, and salaried employees paid on a weekly basis for a work week of substantially the same hours, may be paid biweekly or semimonthly unless the employee elects monthly payment. Employees engaged in agricultural work may be paid monthly. In no case may wages stay unpaid more than six days past the end of the pay period in which they were earned.
M.G.L. c. 149 § 148 — Payment of wages →A discharged employee is paid the same day
An employee discharged from employment shall be paid in full on the day of discharge. An employee who leaves voluntarily is paid on the following regular pay day, or on the following Saturday where there is no regular pay day. Boston has a narrow extension while payroll certification requirements are met.
M.G.L. c. 149 § 148 — Payment of wages →$15.00 an hour, $6.75 for tipped service work
Chapter 151 § 1 presumes any wage under $15.00 per hour to be oppressive and unreasonable, and adds that the state rate can never be less than fifty cents above the federal minimum. The service rate for workers who make more than $20 a month in tips is $6.75, and most agricultural work has its own $8.00 rate.
Mass.gov — Massachusetts law about minimum wage →
02 — Local rates
Local rates above the Massachusetts minimum
No city or county rate above the Massachusetts minimum is listed here. Where one exists it is set by a local ordinance, so an employer in a city with its own should check that ordinance before relying on the state figure.
03 — What we calculate
What this generator calculates for Massachusetts
| Withholding line | Source | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Federal income tax | irs.gov | Calculated |
| Social Security | ssa.gov | Calculated |
| Medicare | ssa.gov | Calculated |
| MA state income tax | web.archive.org | Calculated |
State withholding for Massachusetts 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.
See the Massachusetts withholding tables and work out take-home pay →04 — Questions
Frequently asked questions
- What has to appear on a Massachusetts pay slip?
- The employer name, your name, the day, month and year, the number of hours worked, the hourly rate, and the amounts of any deductions or increases for the pay period. Chapter 149 § 148 calls it a suitable pay slip, check stub or envelope, and the list is the same whichever form the employer picks.
- How quickly must I be paid after a Massachusetts pay period ends?
- Within six days of the end of the pay period if you worked five or six days that week, and within seven days if you worked all seven. The statute closes with a hard limit: in no event may wages remain unpaid more than six days from the end of the pay period in which they were earned.
- I was fired today. When do I get my final Massachusetts paycheck?
- On the day of discharge. That is unusual even among states with strict final pay rules, and it is the opposite of the treatment for quitting: an employee who leaves voluntarily is paid on the next regular pay day, or the following Saturday if there is no regular pay day.
- Can a Massachusetts employer pay me monthly?
- Only in specific cases. Bona fide executive, administrative and professional employees and salaried staff on a steady weekly schedule may be paid biweekly or semimonthly, and they can elect monthly payment themselves. Agricultural workers may be paid monthly. Everyone else is on a weekly or biweekly cycle.
- Has the Massachusetts minimum wage changed since 2023?
- No. It has stood at $15.00 per hour since January 1, 2023, with a $6.75 service rate for tipped workers earning more than $20 a month in tips and an $8.00 rate for most agricultural work. Chapter 151 also guarantees the state rate stays at least fifty cents above the federal one.
Sources
- M.G.L. c. 149 § 148 — Payment of wages
- M.G.L. c. 151 § 1 — Oppressive and unreasonable wages
- Mass.gov — Massachusetts law about minimum wage
Wage and hour law changes. Check the linked source before relying on any figure here, and treat this page as a starting point rather than legal advice.