The Texas Payday Law is enforced one wage claim at a time — and each claim audits you. When a former employee files with the TWC over a held check or a disputed commission, the examiner isn't just looking at that check: pay frequency, posted paydays, deduction authorizations, and written agreements all come into view. Employers routinely lose claims over practices they didn't know were practices.
This audit covers the seven sections that decide claims: pay frequency (nonexempt employees must be paid at least semi-monthly — monthly payroll is a violation hiding in plain sight), the payday posting requirement, wage statements, the 6-day final pay rule, written deduction authorizations, commission and bonus agreements, and claim-response readiness including the 4-year record window.
Who should use this compliance audit
- Texas employers who have never self-audited payroll practices
- Bookkeepers and office managers who inherited payroll
- Businesses that just received — or just lost — a TWC wage claim
- Anyone paying commissions on a handshake
What it helps prevent
- TWC wage claims with administrative penalties on top
- Semi-monthly schedules quietly unlawful for nonexempt staff
- Final pay deadline violations at every separation
- Deduction practices with no written authorization behind them
- Commission disputes decided by whoever wrote nothing down
What’s inside
- Section 1 — Pay Frequency
- Section 2 — Payday Notice and Posting
- Section 3 — Payment Method and Wage Statements
- Section 4 — Final Pay
- Section 5 — Deductions
- Section 6 — Commissions and Bonuses
- Section 7 — Claim Response Readiness
Before you process payroll, terminate, classify, deduct, or respond to a claim, get the decision reviewed.
Faulkner HR Solutions helps Texas employers, nonprofits, municipalities, and growing businesses fix the people systems behind recurring workplace problems. If this resource raised a risk flag, do not guess your way through the next step.