I'm just curious as to what information is legally required to be on a pay stub? My husband recently began a new job and today was his first pay day. He was expecting to get a pay check like you would normally get, but instead they paid him with cash. Is this a legal method of payment? What really took us aback was that he wasn't presented with a "normal" pay stub (a printed piece of paper listing out all the info like you normally get). Instead, he was presented with 1/3 of a piece of paper from a legal tablet with the following information hand-written on it:
Week ending.
Name.
Hours worked.
Gross pay.
SS withholding.
Medicare withholding.
Net pay.

I suppose the reason this seems odd to me is because I managed payroll for a company for a few years and every stub I printed had other information...like the person's SSN, full name, address, federal and state withholding status, SS/Medicare withholding, complete pay period info (MM/DD/YY-MM/DD/YY), wage rate, YTD info, etc. I was just wondering what (if any) laws exist for payroll documentation.

This is a function of state law, meaning different for each state. Your state is not my state, and pay stub laws is not the sort of thing I generally try to learn for all 50 states. So, I got out my nifty The Payroll Source Book (APA), and looked up the AZ rules. However the answer looks strange. I have never been a big fan of the accuracy of 50 state charts, so you should probably get a second opinion on this.

"Earnings and deductions if employee paid by direct deposit".

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Past that paying by cash per se is legal. Failing to withholding taxes and report wages/taxes is very illegal, and anytime the employer pays by cash, one has to wonder if an "off the books" transaction is occurring.

DAW, I don't know the pay stub law for Az. either. I had to go to my reference. All it says is wages may be paid by cash, negotiable bank check or with employees written consent by direct deposit. Employees paid by DD must receive a statement of wages and withholdings.

I also found this re Az.: Az. - Access state

This state requires employers to provide a statement that details an employee’s pay information. The state does not require that the pay statement be in writing or on paper. Consequently, a reasonable interpretation of the laws suggests an employer can comply with the pay stub requirements in this state by furnishing an electronic pay stub. An employer must insure that employees can access electronic pay stubs to comply with the law.

OK. I generally do not like researching questions for which I have no interest in the answer, however I took a second whack at this one. I went over to the BNA Payroll Library (a paid service) and found pretty much the same answer. AZ has one of the stranger paystub laws I seen.

BNA payroll library
Pay Statements
Employers that pay wages by direct deposit must provide pay statements to their employees.
Electronic pay statements: Pay statements may be provided in electronic form.
Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 23-351.

http://www.azleg.state.az.us/FormatDocument.asp?inDoc=/ars/23/00351.htm&Title=23&DocType=ARS
... D. When an employee's wages are paid by deposit in a financial institution he shall be furnished with a statement of his earnings and withholdings.