House approves earnings and deduction statement bill

The Ohio House of Representatives on May 29 passed a bill requiring employers to provide earnings and deductions statements to all employees.

House Bill 137, sponsored by reps. Brigid Kelly, D-Cincinnati, and Nino Vitale R-Urbana, specifies information to be included such as gross and net wages, the amount and purpose of each addition or deduction, the period covered by the payment and – if the employee is hourly – wage, hours worked, and hours worked over 40. Employers can comply by providing either a written, printed or electronic pay stub.

OSCPA Executive Board Chair John Venturella, CPA, J.D., on May 1 testified in support of the bill, telling the House Commerce and Labor Committee that Ohio is one of only nine states that doesn’t have such a requirement.

Venturella, a shareholder with Clark Schaefer Hackett & Co. in Dayton, said employees “should have the right to regularly access this important wage and withholding information to make sure everything is accurate, and business owners providing paystubs can protect themselves from legal problems down the road should disputes arise months later.”

The House vote was 94-2, sending the bill to the Senate for consideration.