Pay stub requirements in Montana

01 — The law

What Montana law requires

1. 01

   Ten business days from due to paid

   Every employer of labor in the state shall pay each employee the wages earned in lawful money or in cheques convertible into cash on demand at full face value, and may not withhold wages earned or unpaid for a longer period than 10 business days after they are due and payable. Where no time for payment has been established, the pay period is presumed to be semimonthly in length.

   Montana Code Annotated 39-3-204 - Payment of wages generally →
2. 02

   Direct deposit is consented to, never imposed

   Wages may be paid by electronic funds transfer or similar means of direct deposit if the employee has consented in writing or electronically and a record of that consent is retained. The subsection then closes the loop in terms: an employee may not be required to use electronic funds transfer or similar means of direct deposit as a method for payment of wages.

   Montana Code Annotated 39-3-204 - Payment of wages generally →
3. 03

   Notice of the rate and the paydays comes on written demand

   Each employer shall, on written demand and prior to the commencing of work, notify the employee of the rate of wages to be paid, whether by the hour, day, week, month or year, and of the date of paydays, in writing or by posting a notice in a conspicuous place. Employers under a signed collective bargaining agreement covering wages and hours, and employers in agriculture or stockraising, are outside the section.

   Montana Code Annotated 39-3-203 - Employer to notify employee on written demand →
4. 04

   Eighteen sections, and none of them about a stub

   The payment of wages part of the code runs from the definitions in 39-3-201 to the tip pool rules in 39-3-218, taking in notice on demand, payment timing, separation pay, penalties, the recovery period, void contracts, the powers of the commissioner and mediation. No section in that list sets out a statement the employer has to hand an employee at the time of payment.

   Montana Code Annotated, Title 39, chapter 3, part 2 - section index →
5. 05

   Ten dollars eighty five, with no credits allowed against it

   The state minimum wage is $10.85 an hour effective 1 January 2026, adjusted for the cost of living by 30 September each year and set at the greater of the federal or the current state rate. No tip credit, training wage or meal credit is allowed. A business outside the Fair Labor Standards Act with gross annual sales of $110,000 or less may pay $4.00 an hour, but an individual employee the federal act covers still gets the higher minimum.

   Montana Department of Labor and Industry - 2026 minimum wage poster →
6. 06

   Final pay depends on who ended the job

   When an employee separates, unpaid wages are due on the next regular payday for the pay period during which the separation happened, or 15 days from separation, whichever occurs first. When the separation is for cause or a layoff, wages are due immediately unless a written personnel policy extends the time, and the department reads immediately as within four hours or the end of the business day.

   Montana Code Annotated 39-3-205 - Payment of wages when employee separated →

02 — Local rates

Local rates above the Montana minimum

03 — What we calculate

What this generator calculates for Montana

State withholding for Montana 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 Montana require a pay stub?

The payment of wages part of the code has no section that sets out a statement for payday. It runs from 39-3-201 to 39-3-218 and covers timing, consent to direct deposit, notice on written demand, separation pay and penalties instead. Employers still have to be able to show what was paid and when if a wage claim lands with the commissioner.

What is the Montana minimum wage in 2026?

Ten dollars eighty five cents an hour from 1 January 2026. The department adjusts it for the cost of living by 30 September each year and it is always the greater of the state or federal figure. Montana allows no tip credit, no training wage and no meal credit, so tipped staff get the full rate before tips.

When must Montana wages be paid?

No later than ten business days after they are due and payable. If you hand in a timesheet after the deadline for processing and the employer misses that window, it may pay you in the next pay period, but no later than that. Where nothing has been established about when wages are due, the pay period is presumed to be semimonthly.

Can my Montana employer require direct deposit?

No. Payment by electronic funds transfer or similar direct deposit is allowed only where you have consented in writing or electronically and a record of the consent is kept, and the statute says outright that an employee may not be required to use it as a method for payment of wages.

When do I get my final paycheck in Montana?

If you quit, on the next regular payday for the pay period in which you left or fifteen days after leaving, whichever comes first. If you are laid off or discharged for cause, wages are due immediately, which the department reads as within four hours or the end of the business day, unless a pre-existing written policy pushes it to the next payday or fifteen days.