Payment for hours worked

Employers are required to pay wages to employees for all hours worked, including when employees are performing duties connected to their employment but aren’t at their jobsite, like completing online work-related paperwork or trainings.

Required earnings statement

Employers are required to provide each employee with a written earnings statement (or pay stub). A pay stub must be issued at the end of each pay period and must include the following:

1. the name of the employee;

2. the hourly rate of pay (if applicable) or other rate of pay;

3. the total number of hours worked by the employee unless exempt from Minnesota Statutes chapter 177;

4. the total amount of gross pay earned by the employee during that period;

5. a list of deductions made from the employee's pay;

6. the net amount of pay after all deductions are made;

7. the date on which the pay period ends; and

8. the legal name of the employer and the operating name of the employer if different from the legal name.

See Minnesota Statutes 181.032 for further information.

Additionally, effective Aug. 1, 2024, employers must keep copies of employee earnings statements for three years from the time they are issued.

Wages due upon separation – Minnesota Statutes 181.13 and 181.14

These statutes provide penalties if wages are not paid according to the following guidelines:

• for a discharged employee, wages are due within 24 hours of demand; and

• for voluntary-quit employees, wages are due by the next payday that is at least five days after the employee's last day of work, not to exceed 20 days from the last day worked.

More information

• Learn how to make a demand for final wages

• Read frequently asked questions about hours

Recordkeeping

The Minnesota Fair Labor Standards Act (MFLSA) and the Minnesota Child Labor Standards Act set recordkeeping requirements for employers.

Every employer must keep certain records about each employee who is entitled to minimum wage and overtime pay under the MFLSA. The act requires no particular format for the records. It does require that the records include certain identifying information about the employee and data about hours worked and the wages paid. The law requires that this information be kept for a period of at least three years. The basic employee information an employer must record includes:

• name, address and occupation;

• rate of pay and the amount paid each pay period;

• beginning and ending hours worked each day, including a.m. and p.m. designations, plus total hours worked each day and each workweek;

• proof of age of minors employed; and

• for each employer subject to MFLSA sections 177.41 to 177.44 regarding prevailing wage, and while performing work on public works projects funded in whole or in part with state funds, the prevailing-wage master job classifications of each employee working on the project for each hour worked as well as all other information required on the certified payroll report. 

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 For more information

Contact us at dli.laborstandards@state.mn.us, 651-284-5075 or 800-342-5354.