To get pay stubs from a previous employer, start with the online payroll portal your employer used, since services like ADP, Paychex, Gusto, and Workday often keep your account accessible after you leave. If that doesn’t work, send a written request to the company’s payroll or HR department. When the employer is unresponsive or out of business, an IRS wage and income transcript or a Social Security earnings record will document your income instead.
Check the Old Payroll Portal First
This is the fastest route, and most people skip it. If your former employer used ADP, Paychex, Gusto, Workday, or a similar service, your pay stubs may still be sitting in the platform waiting to be downloaded. Many providers keep employee accounts active for a period after separation, sometimes a year or more. Log in with your old credentials and look for a section labeled “pay history” or “pay statements.” Individual stubs usually download as PDFs.
If your account is locked or you’ve forgotten the password, try the reset tool. It typically sends a link to the personal email you had on file. If that fails, call the payroll provider’s customer support directly. They can sometimes restore access after verifying your identity, without needing your former employer to step in. One caveat: employers pay for data storage on these platforms, so older records may have been purged. The sooner you check, the better.
Send a Written Request to the Employer
If the portal is a dead end, write to the payroll or human resources department. Address it to that department specifically rather than to a general company address. Include:
- Your full legal name, including any name used during employment if it has changed since.
- Your employee ID number, if you were assigned one.
- Your dates of employment and the specific pay periods you need.
- A preferred delivery method, whether that’s a mailing address or an encrypted electronic delivery.
- A current phone number and email so payroll can follow up.
Send the request by certified mail with return receipt. That gives you dated proof of delivery, which matters if you later need to file a complaint or show a lender you made a good-faith effort. Email is faster; if you use it, follow up with a phone call a few days later to confirm the request reached the right person. Keep a log of every attempt, with dates, names, and what was said.
Protect Your Social Security Number
Any payroll request will involve sensitive identifiers. Never put your full SSN in the body of an unencrypted email or an unprotected attachment. If the employer offers encrypted email or a secure upload portal, use it. Otherwise, provide only the last four digits in the initial written request and offer to verify the full number by phone once your identity is confirmed. Certified mail is inherently more secure than email for sensitive documents because the envelope stays sealed until delivery.
What Your Former Employer Is Required to Do
Federal law and state law split the work here, and knowing the difference tells you how much leverage you actually have.
The Fair Labor Standards Act requires covered employers to preserve payroll records for at least three years from the last date of entry.1eCFR. 29 CFR Part 516 – Records to Be Kept by Employers But the FLSA only requires employers to “make, keep, and preserve” those records and produce them for the Department of Labor when needed for enforcement.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 US Code 211 – Collection of Data There is no federal right to demand your own payroll file from a former employer.
That right, if you have one, comes from your state. Roughly half the states require employers to provide pay stubs or wage statements to current employees, and a smaller group extends access to former employees. Response deadlines vary. Some states give employers as few as five business days to respond to a written request; others allow up to 30 calendar days. Some states also permit a copying fee, ranging from pennies per page to a modest flat administrative charge.
Check your state department of labor’s website for terms like “personnel file inspection,” “wage records access,” or “payroll record request.” If a law applies, it will almost always specify a written request and a firm deadline. Knowing that deadline tells you exactly when you can escalate.
Government Sources That Can Substitute for Pay Stubs
When the employer won’t cooperate, no longer exists, or is dragging its feet, government records can document your income. None of these produce a pay stub with weekly breakdowns, but lenders, landlords, and government agencies routinely accept them.
IRS Wage and Income Transcript
The IRS keeps a record of every W-2 and 1099 filed under your Social Security number. You can view and download this data by signing in to your IRS Individual Online Account.3Internal Revenue Service. Get Your Tax Records and Transcripts The transcript shows each employer’s name, your total wages, and tax withholdings for the year. It covers the current processing year and the nine prior tax years.4Internal Revenue Service. Transcript Types for Individuals and Ways to Order Them
If you can’t create an online account, call the automated phone service at 800-908-9946 or mail Form 4506-T. Mailed transcripts arrive in 5 to 10 calendar days.4Internal Revenue Service. Transcript Types for Individuals and Ways to Order Them The IRS mails transcripts only to the taxpayer, not to third parties.5Internal Revenue Service. About Tax Transcripts
Social Security Earnings Record
A free my Social Security account at ssa.gov shows your entire earnings history, broken down by year and employer.6Social Security Administration. Get Your Social Security Statement This reaches much further back than the IRS transcript. If you need a certified copy for legal proceedings or a formal application, Form SSA-7050 requests a detailed itemized earnings statement; the current fee for a certified version is $96.7Social Security Administration. Form SSA-7050 Request for Social Security Earnings Information
Bank Statements
Bank records showing recurring direct deposits from an employer serve as supporting evidence of income. They won’t show gross pay or deductions, but they confirm net deposit amounts and dates. Most banks let you download several years of statements online. Combined with an IRS transcript, bank statements often satisfy lender requirements even when the original stubs are gone for good.
When the Employer Refuses or Has Closed
Refusal to Provide Records
If your state law entitles you to payroll records and your former employer ignores your request, start with your state labor department. Most have a straightforward complaint process for records access violations. Before you file, send one last written request that cites the specific state statute and the deadline the employer has already missed. Sometimes a statute number produces a response that months of polite emails did not.
At the federal level, the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division handles complaints about wage and recordkeeping violations. File by calling 1-866-487-9243 or through the WHD website.8U.S. Department of Labor. How to File a Complaint An employer cannot legally retaliate against you for filing a complaint or cooperating with an investigation. Keep copies of your original request, the certified mail receipt, and any response you received.
Employer Out of Business
If the company went through bankruptcy, a court-appointed trustee may still have custody of employee records. The U.S. Trustee Program maintains a locator tool for Chapter 7, 12, and 13 cases.9U.S. Department of Justice. Frequently Asked Questions – Consumer Information Contact the trustee assigned to the case and explain that you need payroll records.
If the company simply closed without filing bankruptcy, there may be no central custodian. In that case, the IRS wage transcript and Social Security earnings record become your primary sources. Some states also require businesses to transfer employee records to a successor company or to the state labor department when they dissolve, so a call to your state agency is worth the effort even when the business looks like it has vanished.