Most of us are familiar with the basics of our pay stub: tax withholdings, Social Security, and, of course, income. There may be a few codes on your paycheck you’re unfamiliar with, though, and Credit.com breaks them down.




According to Loren Downey, director of payroll practice for Namely, companies typically list details about your health insurance, retirement plans, and wage garnishments. 401K is pretty obvious—that’s your retirement benefit. If the code reads 401KER, that’s typically your employer’s contribution to your retirement account. Credit.com further explains:

Where things get complicated, Downey said, is when companies list codes on their paycheck specific to how they do business or the benefits offered to workers. For example, some businesses may list health insurance as HS while others may call it HI. It’s all about whatever makes sense to the company, said Downey, so it’s not uncommon for codes to vary...If, for some reason, your child support is being taken out of your paycheck or you’ve had wages garnished, this will typically appear as GARN or CHSPPRT, Downey said. “Generally, [these codes are] intuitive.” For instance, LEVY could mean a tax levy.


Of course, these are general codes, and your employer may very well use its own specific code for expenses like these or for bonuses. If you’re not familiar with a code on your stub, you can always check with HR, but these are a few of the most common. For more detail, head to the link below.

What Do These Codes on My Paycheck Mean? | Credit.com