Payroll and Benefits Guide United States – Ohio
Last updated: Mar 03, 2026
Contribution
| Employer Payroll Contributions | |
| 0.40% – 10.10% | State Unemployment Insurance (SUI), applied on at least the Federal limit of 7,000 USD per year.The rates are determined based on the employer’s experience with unemployment claims and contributions. |
| 2.70% | State Unemployment Insurance – New Employer, applied on at least the Federal limit of 7,000 USD per year. |
| 6.20% | Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) - Social Security, applied on salary up to 176,100 USD per year. |
| 1.45% | Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) – Medicare. An additional 0.9% should be withheld from employees earning above 200,000 USD per year. |
| 0.60% – 6.00% | Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA), applied on salary up to 7,000 USD per year. Employers who pay their state unemployment tax in full and on time are eligible for a 5.4% tax credit, reducing the FUTA rate to 0.6%. |
| 11.25% – 26.15% | Total Employment Cost |
| Employee Payroll Contributions | |
| 6.20% | Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) - Social Security, applied on salary up to 176,100 USD per year. |
| 1.45% | Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) – Medicare.An additional 0.9% should be withheld from employees earning above 200,000 USD per year. |
| 7.65%-8.55% | Total Employee Cost |
| State Employee Income Tax | Annual |
| State Tax – Single & Married -Joint Filing | |
| 0.00% | 0 – 26,050 USD |
| 2.75% | 26,050 – 100,000 USD |
| 3.50% | Above 100,000 USD |
| Standard Deduction and Personal Exemption | |
| Single | 2,400 USD |
| Married – Joint Filing | 4,800 USD |
| Federal Employee Income Tax | Annual |
| Federal Tax – Singles | |
| 10.00% | Up to 11,925 USD |
| 12.00% | 11,925 – 48,475 USD |
| 22.00% | 448,475 – 103,350 USD |
| 24.00% | 103,350 – 197,300 USD |
| 32.00% | 197,300 – 250,525 USD |
| 35.00% | 250,525 – 626,350 USD |
| 37.00% | Above 626,350 USD |
| Federal Tax – Married, filing jointly | |
| 0.00% | Up to 23,850 USD |
| 12.00% | 23,850 – 96,950 USD |
| 22.00% | 96,950 – 206,700 USD |
| 24.00% | 206,700 – 394,600 USD |
| 32.00% | 394,600 – 501,050 USD |
| 35.00% | 501,050 – 751,600 USD |
| 37.00% | Above 751,600 USD |
| Federal Tax – Heads of Household | |
| 10.00% | Up to 17,000 USD |
| 12.00% | 17,000 – 64,850 USD |
| 22.00% | 64,850 – 103,350 USD |
| 24.00% | 103,350 – 197,300 USD |
| 32.00% | 197,300 – 250,500 USD |
| 35.00% | 250,500 – 626,350 USD |
| 37.00% | Above 626,350 USD |
| Standard Deduction and Personal Exemption | |
| 15,000 USD | Single |
| 30,000 USD | Married Filing Jointly |
| 22,500 USD | Head of Household |
Minimum Wage
General
The hourly minimum wage is 10.70 USD for businesses with annual gross receipts of 394,000 USD per year.
If a business has annual gross receipts of less than 394,000 USD, the minimum wage is 7.25 USD per hour, aligning with the Federal minimum wage.
Payroll
Payroll Cycle
Employees are paid either semi-monthly or monthly, with payment dates outlined in the employment contract. Payments are generally made on or before the 1st and 15th of each month.
13th Salary
There are no provisions in the law regarding 13th salaries.
Working Hours
General
In Ohio, the work week is 40 hours or 8 hours per day.
Overtime
Ohio adheres to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and overtime consists of any work exceeding four hours beyond the standard work week.
Overtime is paid at the rate of 150% of the regular pay. If employees are scheduled to work on weekends or rest days, no additional payment is required.
However, should an employer request an employee work in exceptional circumstances on these days, overtime is 150% of the regular pay.
Leave
Annual Leave (vacation)
Public holidays are not mandatory paid days off, but employers commonly allow workers to take federal holidays as paid days off.
Some companies might also agree to allow workers to take off state holidays; workers can find specific state holiday dates from their local government.
Usually when an agreed public holiday falls on a weekend, a day off in lieu is given on the Friday before or the Monday after the holiday.
| Date | Day | Holiday | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 January 2026 | Thursday | New Year’s Day | Standard holiday |
| 19 January 2026 | Monday | Martin Luther King, Jr. Day | Standard holiday |
| 16 February 2026 | Monday | Presidents’ Day | Standard holiday |
| 25 May 2026 | Monday | Memorial Day | Standard holiday |
| 19 June 2026 | Friday | Juneteenth National Independence Day | Standard holiday |
| 3 July 2026 | Friday | Independence Day (Observed) | Standard holiday |
| 7 September 2026 | Monday | Labor Day | Standard holiday |
| 12 October 2026 | Monday | Columbus Day | Standard holiday |
| 11 November 2026 | Wednesday | Veterans Day | Standard holiday |
| 26 November 2026 | Thursday | Thanksgiving Day | Standard holiday |
| 25 December 2026 | Friday | Christmas Day | Standard holiday |
Sick Days
Sick leave falls under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which provides leave for an employee with a serious health condition that makes them unable to perform the essential functions of their job.
It is common for an employer to follow the FMLA which provides certain employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year for certain family and medical reasons (maternity leave, serious illnesses, or if the employee needs to care for a spouse or child).
Employees are eligible for FMLA if they have worked for their employer for at least one year, completed a minimum of 1,250 hours over the past year, and worked at a location where the company employs 50 or more employees within 75 miles.
In addition, all Ohio employers must provide one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked up to an annual maximum of 40 hours of paid sick leave.
Maternity Leave
Maternity leave falls under the FMLA (see sick leave) which allows a mother:
- Twelve working weeks of leave in any one year for a child’s birth and to care for the newborn within one year of birth
In addition to the FMLA, Ohio has the Ohio Civil rights Act which enhances the rights of pregnant employees and entitles employees who work an average of 30 hours per week to six continuous weeks of paid leave.
This is also applicable to adoptive parents.
Paternity Leave
Paternity leave falls under the FMLA (see sick leave), which allows fathers:
- Twelve working weeks of leave in any one year for a child’s birth and to care for the newborn within one year of birth
See Sick leave above.
Parental Leave
Parental leave falls under the FMLA (see sick leave), which allows for:
- Leave for the adoption or foster care of a child and care for the newly placed child within one year of placement
- Any qualifying necessity arising out of the fact that the employee’s spouse, son, daughter, or parent is a covered military member on covered active duty
Other Leave
Leave for the care of an employee’s spouse, child, or parent who has a severe health condition falls under the FMLA (see sick leave).
Alternatively, if an employee is a service member’s spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin (military caregiver leave), they may take 26 working weeks of leave during a single one-year period to attend to the service member’s serious injury or illness.
Other leave under Ohio law includes:
- Job-protected but unpaid leave for full-time employees for jury duty, as a witness in a case, responding to a subpoena, or acting as a plaintiff or defendant in the courts. Employees must provide a copy of the jury summons to the employer as evidence of requirement.
- Unpaid leave for registered voters to vote in any municipal, county, state, or federal primary or general election. Employees must provide reasonable notice to their employers to take time off to vote.
PAID MATERNITY LEAVE (DAYS)
Termination
Termination Process
Except in mass dismissals or as provided for in an employment contract or a collective bargaining agreement, U.S. law does not impose a formal notice period to terminate an individual employment relationship and employment is stipulated at will.
This means that either the employer or the employee may end the employment relationship without giving either notice or reason, provided it is not illegal, notable discrimination on the grounds of a category protected by law, and as per the Federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN).
The employment contracts of executives and other highly skilled individuals often incorporate a just cause termination clause which mandates that the employer may only terminate the employee for cause and lists the permissible grounds.
In such cases, the parties negotiate the foundations for a just cause termination.
Notice Period
There are no provisions in the law outlining notice, however, dismissal in Ohio follows the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) the general practice is two weeks of Notice as a minimum threshold.
Severance Pay
In Ohio, most employees are employed at-will and either party can terminate the employment relationship without notice.
An employer’s policy or employee contract governs whether earned or unused vacation is paid on separation. If the employer does not have a written policy that limits the compensation for accrued leave to a terminated employee, that employee is entitled to be paid PTO upon separation.
There is no official notice period, but general practice is two weeks as a minimum threshold.
In mass dismissal cases, the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN Act) must be followed, and employers must give 60 days’ notice to impacted employees.
Probation Period
No legal provision governs a formal “trial /probation period.”
However, it is common practice for employers to set a performance evaluation after an initially stated period of employment of 90 days.
Minimal Statutory Termination Costs
Some states require PTO balances to be paid out during termination, also any bonuses or commissions that were promised in the employment contract
Immigration
Foreign nationals without permanent resident status or a work visa are not permitted to work in the United States.
An employer seeking to hire a foreign national may file a petition with the United States Department of Homeland Security/United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for an employment visa on behalf of the prospective employee.
If the petition is approved, the prospective employee must obtain a visa stamp from a United States embassy or consulate (Canadian citizens are exempt from this requirement).
To get a temporary U.S. work visa, an employer must file a petition with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
An approved petition must be part of the visa request. The types of visas include:
- H-1B – For applicants with a college degree hired to do specialized work. The visa is valid for three years and can be extended for an additional three years. The visa is connected to the employer that filed the petition. If there is a change of employer, the new employer must repeat the process. There are 65,000 H-1B visas available each year.
- H-1B1 – For applicants with a college degree from Chile and Singapore. The US government grants up to 1,400 visas to Chilean citizens and 5,400 from Singapore each year.
- H-2A – For temporary or seasonal agriculture work. It is limited to citizens of qualified countries. Usually valid for up to one year and can be extended to a maximum of three years.
- H-2B – For temporary non-agricultural work. These visas are limited to citizens of qualified countries. Usually valid for up to one year and can be extended to a maximum of three years.
- L – For intercompany transfers (people transferred from a foreign company to a U.S. branch of the company.) The applicant must have been employed at the company for a year before the transfer and work in a managerial-level position or higher with specialized knowledge.
- 0 – For people with extraordinary ability in science, arts, education, business, or athletics.
The standard procedure is to obtain a short-term work visa and then apply for an immigrant visa after the employee has started working in the United States.
For those seeking employment-based immigrant visas:
- E-1 – Highest priority employment for those with extraordinary ability in science, arts, education, business, and athletics.
- E-2 – For those with advanced degrees or exceptional ability.
- E-3 – For skilled workers and professionals as well as unskilled workers.
- E-4 – Members of certain immigrant groups.
- E-5 – Immigrant investors in U.S. companies (substantial investment)
Alternatively, an employer may sponsor a potential employee’s application for permanent resident status, referred to as a green card, if the employer can establish that the potential employee is a multinational executive/manager transferee, has unique skills, or has been offered a job in the United States.
The employer must have been unable to recruit a U.S. worker who meets the position’s minimum requirements.
All employers are obligated to verify that all individuals they employ are authorized to work in the United States.
VAT
General
Ohio has a State sales tax of 5.75%. Additionally, some cities impose an additional Local sales taxes of up to 2.25%.
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Payroll and Benefits Guide
in United States – Ohio
What’s covered in this guide:
- Employer/employee contributions
- Minimum wage
- Working hours
- Visa requirements
And more...
Public Holidays Calendar
| Date | Day | Holiday | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 January 2026 | Thursday | New Year’s Day | Standard holiday |
| 19 January 2026 | Monday | Martin Luther King, Jr. Day | Standard holiday |
| 16 February 2026 | Monday | Presidents’ Day | Standard holiday |
| 25 May 2026 | Monday | Memorial Day | Standard holiday |
| 19 June 2026 | Friday | Juneteenth National Independence Day | Standard holiday |
| 3 July 2026 | Friday | Independence Day (Observed) | Standard holiday |
| 7 September 2026 | Monday | Labor Day | Standard holiday |
| 12 October 2026 | Monday | Columbus Day | Standard holiday |
| 11 November 2026 | Wednesday | Veterans Day | Standard holiday |
| 26 November 2026 | Thursday | Thanksgiving Day | Standard holiday |
| 25 December 2026 | Friday | Christmas Day | Standard holiday |
Questions & Answers