If your payroll check contains a paystub with limited detail about how your pay is calculated, you can still check the paystub in order to verify that you were paid properly based on your hourly rate. Checking your paystub when you receive your check is a good practice for hourly employees; mistakes are easily made when processing payroll because of the high level of manual data entry required by most payroll systems.
Determine how many hours you worked during the pay period. Make sure you account for regular hours and overtime hours separately.
Multiply your hourly rate times the number of regular hours worked during the pay period. For example, if you receive your pay bi-weekly and you worked 80 regular hours at $10 an hour, then your regular pay for the two weeks equals $800.
Determine your overtime pay rate. For example, if you get time-and-a-half for overtime, multiply your hourly rate times 1.5 to determine your overtime rate of pay. If your hourly pay rate is $10, your overtime rate is $15 an hour.
Multiply your hourly overtime rate by the number of overtime hours worked. For example, if you worked five hours of overtime, then 5 times $15 yields $75 of overtime pay.
Add your total regular pay to your total overtime pay to arrive at gross pay. For example, $800 regular pay plus $75 overtime pay results in $875 gross pay. Compare your calculated gross pay to the gross pay reflected on your pay stub.
Notify your payroll preparer of any discrepancies between your calculated number and the amount you were paid.
