How to check your paycheck with your own work record

A paycheck total is hard to check from memory. Start with an independent record of when you worked, the rates you expected, and the pay period the stub covers. That gives you two sets of numbers you can compare without assuming in advance that either one is wrong.

1. Match the pay-period dates

First confirm the opening and closing dates on the pay stub. A shift near the boundary may belong to the previous or next check, and an employer’s fixed overtime workweek may not start on the same day as the pay period. Compare like with like before comparing any total.

2. Rebuild the hours from your own log

List each shift’s actual start and end time and its paid or unpaid breaks. Include short shifts, work that crossed midnight, and any day you arrived early or stayed late. A contemporaneous daily log is more reliable than reconstructing a fortnight from memory.

3. Separate hours by rate

Do not compare only the grand total. Check regular hours, overtime hours, and any supported night, weekend, holiday, or other premium separately. Also check whether your base rate changed during the period. A correct total can hide the wrong mix of hours, while a different total can come from an assumption that needs to be edited.

4. Compare expected gross pay, not take-home pay

Taxes, benefits, garnishments, reimbursements, and other deductions can change the amount deposited in your account. Compare your record with the gross-hours and gross-pay lines on the stub first. Treat any difference as an amount to review—not proof of an employer error or an amount legally owed.

Keeping the comparison in Valio

• Record clock-in, clock-out, and breaks while the shift is still fresh.
• Set each job’s rate, pay period, overtime week, and supported premium rules as editable assumptions.
• Review expected gross hours and earnings for the same window shown on the pay stub.
• Export the underlying record as PDF or CSV when you need to walk through the dates, entries, rates, and subtotals with someone else.

If the numbers still differ

Recheck the dates, entries, breaks, rates, and rule assumptions, then compare them with the employer’s policy or agreement. For federal U.S. wage-and-hour concepts, use current guidance from the U.S. Department of Labor; for state-specific questions, use the current state labor agency. A qualified professional or labor agency can determine what applies to a real dispute. Valio cannot make that determination.

Valio creates a worker-owned estimate and record. It does not calculate payroll, taxes, or deductions, decide whether a paycheck is legally correct, or provide legal advice.