West Virginia: Pay Frequency and Wage-Payment Lag Requirements

Requirements one by one

Ordinary employers must use at least two paydays each month

W. Va. Code § 21-5-3(a) requires every covered nonrailroad employer to settle
with employees at least twice every month, with no more than 19 days between
settlements. W. Va. Code R. § 42-5-7.2 restates the same rule in payday terms.
A weekly, biweekly, or semimonthly schedule can comply; a schedule with a gap
longer than 19 days cannot unless the Commissioner has approved a special
agreement.

The Act's coverage is broad. W. Va. Code § 21-5-1(b), (m)-(n) covers persons
suffered or permitted to work for employers doing business in West Virginia,
while excluding workers properly classified as independent contractors.

The wage-due cutoff is twelve days before payday

Under W. Va. Code § 21-5-1(i), wages due on a regular payday include at least
all wages earned through the twelfth day immediately before that payday. For
example, a July 19 payday must include wages earned through July 7. The
employer may use a later cutoff and pay more recent work on that payday, but
may not move the statutory cutoff earlier.

The Act does not prescribe one maximum number of days in each pay period.
Instead, the employer establishes the pay period, and the 19-day maximum
between paydays and the twelve-day wage-due cutoff operate together.

Establish the schedule and give advance notice of changes

W. Va. Code R. § 42-5-4.1 requires the employer to establish a workweek, pay
period, and payday and notify employees in writing or through an accessible
posted notice. Under § 42-5-4.2, a change to the pay period or time of payment
requires written notice to the affected employee at least one full pay period
before the change takes effect. The Act itself also requires written hiring
notice of the day, hour, and place of payment under W. Va. Code § 21-5-9(1).

If a regular payday is a specific date on which the employer is closed, W. Va.
Code R. § 42-5-7.4 moves payment to the immediately preceding day the employer
is open.

The current implementing rule is scheduled to terminate on July 1, 2029 under
W. Va. Code R. §§ 42-5-1.3 to -1.5. The statutory twice-monthly rule remains
separate from that regulatory sunset.

Special agreements and railroads use different schedules

A “special agreement” is not a private handshake. W. Va. Code § 21-5-1(f)
requires it to be filed with and approved by the Commissioner upon a
compelling showing of good cause. It may permit regular paydays less frequent
than every two weeks, but never less frequent than once each calendar month.

Railroads are outside the general § 21-5-3 schedule. W. Va. Code § 21-5-2
requires first-half wages to be paid by the first day of the next month and
second-half wages by the fifteenth day of the next month. A railroad may pay
more frequently, but an agreement for a slower schedule is void.

Employees may use agency or court enforcement

An employee alleging unpaid wages or another violation may submit a request
for assistance under W. Va. Code R. § 42-5-10.1. The Division investigates and
determines whether the employer violated the Act or rule. W. Va. Code
§ 21-5-11(a) and § 21-5-12 also authorize administrative investigation and a legal
action by the employee or, at the employee's request, the Commissioner. If a
plaintiff wins a judgment, the court may assess costs and reasonable attorney
fees against the employer.

What trips people up

“Twice every month” and “every two weeks” are not identical schedules. A
biweekly payroll ordinarily complies because its gaps are fourteen days, but
the statute's direct commands are at least two settlements in each month and
no more than 19 days between them.

The twelve-day language is a payday cutoff, not permission to add twelve days
after every employer-defined pay period without checking the calendar. Each
payday must include all work through the statutory cutoff, regardless of how
the employer labels its internal payroll periods.

The one-full-pay-period notice rule applies to changes in the pay period or
time of payment. Merely posting a changed schedule on its effective date does
not satisfy W. Va. Code R. § 42-5-4.2's advance written-notice requirement to
the affected employee.

Common questions

May a West Virginia employer pay monthly?

Only under a special agreement filed with and approved by the Commissioner.
Even then, employees must be paid in full at least once each calendar month.

How recent may unpaid work be on a regular payday?

The paycheck must include at least all wages earned through the twelfth day
before payday. The employer may include wages earned after that cutoff too.

What if the employer is closed on the scheduled payday?

When the regular payday is a specific date and the employer is closed, payment
is due on the immediately preceding day the employer is open.

Statutes and sources

• W. Va. Code § 21-5-1(b), (f), (i), (m)-(n). Coverage definitions,
  approved special agreements, monthly floor, and wage-due cutoff.
  Official Division of Labor text
  (accessed July 12, 2026).
• W. Va. Code § 21-5-2. Railroad payment dates and prohibition on slower
  private schedules.
  Official Division of Labor text
  (accessed July 12, 2026).
• W. Va. Code § 21-5-3(a). Twice-monthly frequency and 19-day maximum
  between settlements.
  Official Division of Labor text
  (accessed July 12, 2026).
• W. Va. Code § 21-5-9(1)-(2). Hiring notice and advance notice of changes
  to payment arrangements.
  Official Division of Labor text
  (accessed July 12, 2026).
• W. Va. Code § 21-5-11(a) and § 21-5-12. Administrative investigation, legal
  action, costs, and attorney fees.
  Official Division of Labor text
  (accessed July 12, 2026).
• W. Va. Code R. §§ 42-5-4.1 to -4.2, 42-5-7.1 to -7.4, 42-5-10.1 to
  -10.3. Schedule establishment and changes, recurring-pay requirements,
  closed-day rule, and Division investigation.
  Official Division of Labor rule
  (accessed July 12, 2026).
• W. Va. Code R. §§ 42-5-1.3 to -1.5. Filing date, effective date, and
  July 1, 2029 sunset.
  Official Division of Labor rule
  (accessed July 12, 2026).