Wage Theft and Final Paychecks in Ohio: Your Rights in 2026

Effective January 1, 2026, Ohio's minimum wage is $11.00 per hour for most workers and $5.50 per hour plus tips for tipped employees, meaning workers who customarily and regularly receive more than $30 per month in tips. That is up from $10.70 and $5.35 in 2025. The rate changes almost every year because the Ohio Constitution ties it to inflation.

There is a small-employer exception under state law. For 2026, an Ohio employer grossing less than $405,000 per year may pay the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, and workers under age 16 must be paid at least the federal rate. Do not assume a small employer is off the hook, though: the federal Fair Labor Standards Act can still require federal minimum wage and overtime through enterprise coverage (generally $500,000 in annual sales) or when an individual employee works in interstate commerce.

Ohio's protections do not stop at the wage rate itself. Overtime pay, a regular payday schedule, and an itemized pay stub each come from separate laws, and each has its own fine print, covered in the sections below. As of July 2026, your core paycheck rights in Ohio include:

Ohio Revised Code 4113.15 sets the basic payday schedule (the current version took effect March 20, 2019). Wages you earn during the first half of a month, through the 15th, are due on or before the 1st of the next month. Wages you earn during the second half are due on or before the 15th of the next month. Paying more often, such as daily or weekly, is fine; a longer interval is allowed only if it is customary to the trade or set by written contract.

Ohio has no separate final-paycheck statute. When you quit or are fired, your last check follows the same regular schedule, so it is due by the regular payday that covers your final pay period. You may see websites say final pay is due within 15 days or by the next regular payday. That is a paraphrase of the 1st and 15th schedule in Ohio Revised Code 4113.15, not a different rule, and the Ohio Department of Commerce handles complaints about held final paychecks.

If undisputed wages stay unpaid for 30 days past your regularly scheduled payday, Ohio Revised Code 4113.15(B) requires the employer to pay liquidated damages on top of the wages: 6 percent of the unpaid amount or $200, whichever is greater. One important catch: this extra payment does not apply if a contest, court order, or dispute, including a counterclaim by the employer, accounts for the nonpayment, so it often falls away once an employer disputes the claim.

No Ohio statute requires a private employer to pay out unused vacation or PTO when you leave. Your handbook, written policy, or agreement controls. Ohio courts enforce clear written forfeiture policies, meaning you can lose accrued time if the policy says you do, and courts also enforce policies that promise a payout, meaning you can hold your employer to its written word.

If the policy is silent, you are in a gray area: legal sources conflict on whether accrued vacation is payable as earned compensation, so get a copy of the handbook and talk to a lawyer before assuming anything. Public employees are in a different position, because Ohio Revised Code 124.13 and 124.134 give many state and county workers statutory vacation payout rights. Pay promised in a written or oral agreement, such as commissions, may be pursued as a contract claim.

Ohio's minimum wage comes from the state constitution, not just a statute. Article II Section 34a of the Ohio Constitution, effective December 8, 2006, requires the state to recalculate the wage every September 30 based on inflation over the prior twelve months, with the new rate taking effect the following January 1, rounded to the nearest five cents. The small-employer gross receipts threshold is adjusted the same way each year, rounded to the nearest $1,000.

Tipped work has its own rule. Your employer may pay you less than the minimum wage, but never less than half of it, and only if it can show that your tips plus wages equal or exceed the full minimum wage for all the hours you worked. If they do not, the employer must make up the difference. Employers must also keep pay records for at least 3 years after your last day of employment.

For overtime, Ohio Revised Code 4111.03 (current version effective July 6, 2022) requires 1.5 times your wage rate for hours over 40 in a workweek. It follows the federal exemptions, so jobs that are exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act are exempt under state law too, and ordinary commuting time is generally not paid time. State overtime law also excludes employers grossing under $150,000 per year and agricultural employees, though federal law may still cover those situations.

Being called an independent contractor or getting a 1099 does not by itself decide whether wage laws protect you. Federal rules here are in flux: on February 26, 2026, the U.S. Department of Labor proposed rescinding its 2024 independent contractor rule in favor of an economic reality test focused on your control over the work and your opportunity for profit or loss, and as of July 6, 2026 no final rule has issued. If you were labeled a contractor but treated like an employee, get legal advice.

The Ohio Pay Stub Protection Act, Ohio Revised Code 4113.14, took effect April 9, 2025. On every regular payday, your employer must give you, or give you access to, a written or electronic statement showing your name and address, the employer's name, your total gross and net wages, the amount and purpose of each addition or deduction, and the pay date and pay period. If you are paid hourly, it must also show your total hours worked, your hourly rate, and any hours over 40 in a workweek.

Enforcement is limited. If you do not receive a statement, you must first make a written request, and the employer then has 10 days to provide it. If it still does not, you can report the violation to the Director of Commerce, whose only sanction is ordering the employer to post a notice of the violation in the workplace for 10 days. There are no fines or private damages, but pay stubs are the key evidence for every other wage claim, so request them and keep them.

You can file a minimum wage or unpaid wage complaint for free with the Ohio Department of Commerce, Bureau of Wage and Hour Administration in Reynoldsburg (phone 614-644-2239). The form requires a notarized signature and copies of your pay stubs and time records, and you can ask to stay anonymous until wages are to be paid. Know the limits: the office can only pursue minimum wage for hours shown unpaid, and you cannot pursue the agency complaint and a private lawsuit on the same claim at the same time.

For violations of Ohio's constitutional minimum wage, the remedies are strong. An employer found in violation must, within 30 days of the finding, pay your back wages, your costs and reasonable attorney fees, and damages of an additional 2 times the back wages, so total recovery is 3 times what you were shorted. Retaliation for asserting these rights is prohibited, with damages of at least $150 for each day a retaliation violation continued, and you owe no costs or fees unless your case was frivolous.

Deadlines matter, and different wage claims run on different clocks. Waiting too long can end a claim entirely, so it helps to figure out early which law fits your situation and when the clock started. As of July 2026, these are the main time limits for wage claims by Ohio workers: