Short answer: payroll can get a pay stub wrong, and the lines worth checking are the ones a person enters by hand. Check your personal details, the hours and the pay rate, any overtime, each benefit deduction against what you actually elected, the state and local tax lines against where you live and work, and the year to date totals against last period's stub. Then check that gross pay, minus every tax and deduction, equals net pay. Most surprises turn out to have an ordinary explanation. The checks below help you tell which kind you are looking at.
This is educational information, not legal, tax or financial advice. It explains what to look at on a stub. It cannot tell you whether your own employer has calculated your pay correctly.
Where this applies: the United States, and the stub of an employee paid through payroll and issued a Form W-2. Pay statement rules are largely set by each state, so details vary with where you work.
Why pay stub errors happen at all
A pay stub is the output of a calculation, and the calculation runs on inputs. Most of those inputs were typed in by a person at some point: your hourly rate, your hours as submitted and approved, your benefit elections, your tax forms, your work address. The payroll software then does the arithmetic the same way every period.
That is why pay stub errors tend to cluster around change. A raise, a new benefit, a move, a new manager approving timesheets, a switch of payroll provider, or a first or last pay period are the moments an input can be entered wrong or late. A stub that was right for a year and wrong this month usually has a change behind it.
It also explains why an error can repeat. If the input is wrong, every period built from it is wrong in the same way until someone notices.
Pay stub errors: what to check, in order
Work down the stub in the order it is calculated. Each block depends on the one above it, so a mistake high up flows into everything below.
1. Your name, address and employee details. A misspelled name or a wrong Social Security number looks cosmetic on a stub. It matters at tax time, because your Form W-2 is built from the same record.
2. The pay period dates. Confirm the dates cover the stretch of work you expect. A shifted period can make hours appear to be missing when they have simply landed on the next stub.
3. Your pay rate. Compare the rate printed on the stub to the rate you were told. If you had a raise, check the effective date. A raise that took effect in the middle of a pay period may show up partly this period and partly the next, which is a pattern our guide to why a raise sometimes does not show up in your bank account walks through.
4. Hours, if you are paid hourly. Compare regular hours, overtime hours and any paid leave against your own record of what you worked. This is the line most worth a personal record, for reasons covered further down.
5. Overtime. Look for overtime hours on their own line with a higher rate, or a separate premium line. Missing overtime, overtime paid at the straight rate, or fewer overtime hours than you worked are the common versions of this error.
6. Benefit deductions. Check each deduction against what you actually enrolled in: the health plan tier, dental, vision, retirement contribution percentage, and any flexible spending or health savings amount. Watch for a deduction that continued after you changed or cancelled an election, and for a new one you do not recognize.
7. Tax lines. You do not need to know any tax rate to check these. Look at which taxes appear. A state or local tax for a place where you neither live nor work is worth a question. So is a federal withholding line that changed sharply with no change in your pay.
8. Net pay and the deposit. Confirm the net pay figure matches what arrived in your account.
The one subtraction that tests the whole stub
Add every tax line and every deduction line for this period. Subtract that total from gross pay for the same period. The result should equal net pay.
If it does not, three explanations cover most cases. A line was missed when adding. An employer contribution or informational line, which is printed on the stub but not taken from your pay, was added in by mistake. Or something genuinely does not add up, which is the case worth raising.
This check says nothing about whether each line is the right amount. It only says whether the stub is internally consistent. It is still the fastest way to find a stub worth a closer look.
The errors that hide for months: use the year to date column
A single period can look reasonable while being wrong, especially when the error is small and repeats. The year to date column is where those errors show.
Take last period's year to date figure for any line, add this period's figure for the same line, and compare the result to this period's year to date. They should match. If they do not, a correction or adjustment was applied somewhere, and it is worth knowing what it was.
A deduction that is a little too high every period is almost invisible on one stub. Across six months of year to date totals it becomes obvious. Checking once a quarter catches most of these long before they surface on a Form W-2.
Mistake or explanation? A quick triage
Most things that look like pay stub errors turn out to be explained. This table sorts the common surprises by how often they have an ordinary cause.
| What you see | Often an ordinary explanation | Worth asking payroll about when |
|---|---|---|
| Net pay lower than usual | A benefit started mid period, a deduction that only runs on certain checks, or a shorter period | Nothing in your elections or schedule changed |
| Hours lower than you worked | Hours from the end of the period rolled into the next stub | The hours do not appear on the next stub either |
| Raise not reflected | The effective date falls inside or after this period | The next full period still shows the old rate |
| New deduction you do not recognize | A benefit enrollment you made, or a court-ordered amount the employer must withhold | You made no election and received no notice |
| Federal withholding jumped | A bonus or unusual payment in the period, or an updated Form W-4 | Your pay and your forms did not change |
| State tax for the wrong state | Rarely ordinary | Always, since it reflects your work or home address record |
Anything in the right-hand column is a reasonable question to take to payroll. Asking about your own pay record is routine.
Keep your own record, because the employer's is not forever
This is the part that is easy to overlook until a disagreement arises. The Fair Labor Standards Act requires employers to keep payroll records for non-exempt workers, including daily and weekly hours, the regular rate, overtime earnings, and additions to or deductions from wages. The U.S. Department of Labor's Fact Sheet #21 on FLSA recordkeeping (revised July 2008, read 2026-09-11) states that payroll records must be preserved for at least three years, while the records wage computations are based on, such as time cards, work schedules and records of additions to or deductions from wages, are kept for two years.
Two consequences follow. First, a timesheet disagreement is easiest to settle while it is recent. Second, your own copies are the part of the record you control. A simple note of the hours you worked each day, plus every stub, is the evidence that lets you compare one period with another later. Keeping stubs together in one folder also makes the year to date check a two minute job.
The same fact sheet does not require employers to hand you a pay stub. Whether you receive one, what it must show, and whether it can be electronic only are set by state law.
What to do when a stub looks wrong
Start with payroll or HR. They can see the inputs that produced the stub: your rate and its effective date, hours as approved, benefit start dates and any adjustment applied. Bring the specific line, the period, and what you expected instead. Written questions are easier to trace than verbal ones.
Ask how a correction will appear. Employers commonly fix an underpayment on a later stub as an adjustment line, or through a separate payment. Knowing which lets you confirm the fix actually arrived.
If payroll and you still disagree about wages or hours, your state labor agency is the authority on state pay rules, and the U.S. Department of Labor lists every state labor office (read 2026-09-11). The Department's Wage and Hour Division handles federal minimum wage and overtime questions.
If the question is about tax rather than payroll, such as whether the right amount is being withheld for your situation, that belongs with a tax professional or the IRS.
A short paycheck, even one that will be corrected, can still land in the same week as a bill. That is a timing problem rather than a payroll one, and it is the reason some households hold a paycheck buffer between the deposit and the bills.
What a stub check cannot tell you
A stub can be internally consistent and still wrong, if the input it was built from was wrong. The subtraction test will pass happily on a rate that was never updated.
A stub also cannot tell you whether your withholding suits your tax situation, or whether a benefit plan was the right choice. Those are separate questions.
What checking does give you is early notice. Most pay stub errors cost little when found in the same month and a great deal more when found a year later. Your budget runs on the deposit itself, which is the case made in our guide to budgeting from gross or net income, so a wrong net pay figure is worth catching before it becomes a wrong month. If the stub is right and the money still has not arrived, the gap is usually on the banking side, covered in how long a direct deposit takes to clear.
FAQ
Can payroll really make mistakes on a pay stub? Yes. The stub is calculated from inputs people enter, such as pay rates, hours and benefit elections. When an input is wrong or late, the stub is wrong, often in the same way every period until someone notices.
What is the quickest way to check a pay stub? Subtract every tax and deduction line from gross pay for the period and confirm the result equals net pay. Then compare last period's year to date totals, plus this period's amounts, against this period's year to date figures.
How long does my employer keep my payroll records? Under the federal rules in the Department of Labor's Fact Sheet #21, payroll records are kept for at least three years, and records such as time cards and work schedules for two years. State rules can add to this.
Who do I contact if my pay stub is wrong? Your employer's payroll or HR department first, with the specific line and period. For unresolved wage or hour disputes, your state labor office or the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division. For tax questions, a tax professional or the IRS.
Sources: U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, Fact Sheet #21, "Recordkeeping Requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act" (revised July 2008), read 2026-09-11. U.S. Department of Labor, "State Labor Offices" directory, read 2026-09-11. No tax rate or dollar threshold appears on this page, because none is needed to check a stub.