A pay stub is full of abbreviations: REG, OT, YTD, FED WH, OASDI, MED. Understanding them helps you confirm you were paid correctly and see where your money goes. This guide explains each section, decodes the common labels and walks through a full example with hypothetical numbers.
What a pay stub is for
A pay stub (also called a pay slip, earnings statement or paycheck stub) shows how your gross pay for a pay period turned into your net pay, the amount that reaches your bank account. It is also the easiest way to catch mistakes: missing overtime, a wrong hourly rate, a deduction you never authorized or a benefit you were supposed to have. Federal law does not generally require employers to hand out a pay stub, but many states do require a written or electronic wage statement showing hours, pay and deductions. Check your state labor department's rules if you do not receive one.
The sections of a typical pay stub
- Header: your name, employer, pay period dates, pay date and sometimes an employee ID. Confirm that the pay period matches the shifts you worked.
- Earnings: the types of pay, hours, rate and amount for the current period, often with a year-to-date (YTD) column.
- Taxes: federal, Social Security, Medicare, state and any local taxes withheld from your pay.
- Deductions: pre-tax and after-tax amounts for benefits, retirement contributions, garnishments and similar items.
- Net pay and payment details: the final amount paid and how it was paid, such as direct deposit to an account ending in specific digits.
- Employer-paid items and balances: contributions your employer made, plus leave balances such as PTO hours available.
Common abbreviations and what they mean
Pay stub abbreviations (labels vary by payroll provider)
| Label | Usually means | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| REG / Regular | Regular hours at your base rate | Hours × rate |
| OT / Overtime | Hours over 40 in the workweek paid at least 1.5× regular rate | Check hours and rate against your own record |
| DT | Double time | Required in some situations by state law or employer policy |
| HOL / Holiday | Paid holiday time not worked | Policy-based; see the holiday pay guide |
| PTO / VAC / SICK | Paid time off used | Not hours worked for overtime purposes |
| Gross Pay / Total Earnings | Pay before any taxes or deductions | Sum of all earnings lines |
| FIT / FED WH / FITW | Federal income tax withheld | Based on your Form W-4 and the IRS tables |
| OASDI / SS / FICA-SS | Social Security tax | 6.2% of Social Security wages up to the annual wage base |
| MED / FICA-MED / MEDI | Medicare tax | 1.45% of Medicare wages; an extra 0.9% applies to wages above $200,000 |
| SIT / ST WH | State income tax withheld | Some states have none |
| SUI / SDI / FLI | State unemployment, disability or family leave contributions | Some are employer-paid and others come out of your pay, depending on the state |
| 401K / 403B | Retirement plan contribution | Pre-tax for traditional plans, after-tax for Roth |
| MED / DEN / VIS (benefit codes) | Medical, dental or vision premium | Often pre-tax, so check the context to tell it apart from Medicare |
| HSA / FSA | Health savings or flexible spending contribution | Generally pre-tax |
| YTD | Year-to-date total | All pay periods in the calendar year through this stub |
| Net Pay / Take-Home | Amount you receive | Gross minus taxes and deductions |
The label MED causes the most confusion because it can stand for Medicare tax or for a medical insurance premium. The Medicare tax line sits in the tax section and is 1.45% of your Medicare wages, while the medical premium is in the deductions section.
A worked example, line by line
Take a biweekly stub for an hourly employee earning $22.00 an hour who worked 80 regular hours and 4 overtime hours. The federal and state withholding amounts here are hypothetical, since they depend on the employee's Form W-4, filing status and state.
Hypothetical biweekly pay stub
| Line | Calculation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Regular pay | 80 hrs × $22.00 | $1,760.00 |
| Overtime pay | 4 hrs × $33.00 (1.5 × $22.00) | $132.00 |
| Gross pay | $1,760.00 + $132.00 | $1,892.00 |
| 401(k) (5%, pre-tax) | 5% × $1,892.00 | −$94.60 |
| Medical premium (pre-tax) | Set by the plan | −$60.00 |
| Social Security | 6.2% × ($1,892.00 − $60.00) | −$113.58 |
| Medicare | 1.45% × ($1,892.00 − $60.00) | −$26.56 |
| Federal income tax | Hypothetical withholding | −$150.00 |
| State income tax | Hypothetical withholding | −$60.00 |
| Net pay | $1,892.00 − all deductions and taxes | $1,387.26 |
Several details are worth noticing. The 401(k) contribution reduces income subject to federal income tax, but it does not reduce Social Security or Medicare wages, which is why Social Security and Medicare are computed on $1,832.00 (gross pay less the pre-tax medical premium) and not on the amount left after the 401(k). The medical premium in this example is a pre-tax cafeteria plan deduction, which reduces income tax wages and FICA wages. The federal taxable wages for the period are $1,892.00 − $94.60 − $60.00 = $1,737.40. Compare the arithmetic with the gross-to-net breakdown in gross pay vs. net pay.
Reading the YTD column
The YTD column adds every pay period in the calendar year through the pay date. If the stub above were your tenth biweekly paycheck and every period matched, YTD gross would be about 10 × $1,892.00 = $18,920.00. Use YTD to spot errors that accumulate: a deduction that has been taken twice, a benefit that was never deducted, or a tax total that does not match your expectations. YTD totals are also the basis for your W-2 at year-end, so large differences should be resolved before January.
Checking your hours and rate
- Match the hours on the stub with your own record. The Weekly Time Card Calculator can total your shifts and breaks.
- Check that hours over 40 in the workweek are paid as overtime at the correct rate. Use the Overtime Pay Calculator to confirm the amount.
- If your employer reports hours in decimals, convert minutes with the minutes to decimal hours chart.
- On a semi-monthly schedule, the number of hours differs from period to period; see biweekly vs. semi-monthly pay.
- Make sure paid holidays and PTO appear on their own lines and are not mixed into regular hours. See is holiday pay required for how they are treated.
Red flags to raise with payroll
- Hours or pay rate that do not match what you worked or agreed to.
- No overtime line in a week where you worked more than 40 hours.
- A deduction you do not recognize or did not authorize. State laws limit what employers can deduct from wages.
- Taxes withheld for the wrong state, or a missing state tax when you live and work in a state that has one.
- A benefit deduction continuing after you dropped the coverage.
- A change in net pay with no change in hours, which could come from a new W-4, benefit enrollment or a payroll error.
Raise the question in writing with specific lines and amounts. If the problem is unpaid wages, you can contact your state labor agency or the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division. For tax withholding questions, the IRS publishes the withholding rules and a withholding estimator that can help you decide whether to adjust your Form W-4.
Bonuses, tips, garnishments and other special lines
Pay stubs for bonuses and commissions often show the payment on its own earnings line, and withholding on it may look larger than on a regular check. Employers commonly treat bonuses as supplemental wages, and the federal income tax on them may be withheld at a flat percentage or by combining them with regular pay. The flat rate is not extra tax: any over-withholding is settled when you file your return. Tips reported to your employer appear as taxable earnings, even though you received the cash directly. Court-ordered garnishments, child support and tax levies appear as deductions, and federal law limits the portion of disposable earnings that can be garnished, so a deduction of this type should be backed by an order you can obtain a copy of. If your stub splits your net pay among several accounts, each deposit is listed separately and the totals should add up to net pay.
Pay stub vs. W-2
Your W-2 summarizes the whole year. Box 1 reports taxable wages for federal income tax, which excludes pre-tax contributions such as traditional 401(k) deferrals and cafeteria plan premiums, so Box 1 is usually lower than your total gross pay. Social Security wages and Medicare wages are reported in separate boxes. Comparing your final pay stub of the year with the W-2 is a quick way to check that the employer reported what it paid.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does YTD mean on a pay stub?
YTD stands for year-to-date. It is the running total of an item, such as gross pay or a tax, for all pay periods in the calendar year through the date of that stub.
What is OASDI on my pay stub?
OASDI stands for Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance, which is the Social Security tax. It is withheld at 6.2% of Social Security wages up to the annual wage base.
Why is my net pay lower than my gross pay?
Net pay is gross pay minus taxes, such as federal and state income tax, Social Security and Medicare, and deductions such as health premiums and retirement contributions.
What does FED WH mean?
It means federal withholding, the federal income tax taken from your pay based on your Form W-4 and IRS withholding tables.
Does my employer have to give me a pay stub?
Federal law does not generally require one, but many states require employers to provide an itemized wage statement. Check your state labor department.
Why is my 401(k) not reducing my Social Security tax?
Traditional 401(k) deferrals reduce income tax wages but not Social Security or Medicare wages, so FICA taxes are still computed on that pay.
Related tools & guides
This guide is for general informational purposes only and is not legal, tax, or financial advice. Labor laws vary by state and change over time. Confirm your specific situation with your employer, HR department, or the U.S. Department of Labor.