Understanding a Paycheck
Pay Stub Worksheets, Gross vs Net Pay & Deductions
- Grades
- Grades 8–12
- Formats
- Google Slides, PDF, PowerPoint
- Pages
- 26
- Answer keys
- Included
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Where does a paycheck go? In this understanding a paycheck resource, high school students take guided notes on gross pay, net pay and deductions, then read and check four realistic pay stubs: hourly, overtime, salaried with pre-tax 401(k) and health insurance, and a part-time server who earns tips. They calculate Social Security and Medicare, fill in a timesheet, catch the mistakes on a pay stub and compare an hourly job offer with a salaried one.
What's included
- Teacher guide with 5-day pacing and differentiation (support, on level, challenge)
- Standards and contents page
- 2 pages of guided notes with fill-in blanks: Earning a Paycheck and Deductions (FICA: Social Security 6.2% and Medicare 1.45%, federal and state withholding, pre-tax deductions)
- Anatomy of a Pay Stub labeling page (a 5th pay stub)
- 4 realistic pay stubs with question sets: hourly, overtime at time and a half, salaried with pre-tax deductions, tipped part-time
- Timesheet Math (hours and minutes, overtime)
- Find the Error on the Pay Stub (a 6th stub with 5 mistakes)
- Pay Periods & Yearly Pay (weekly, biweekly, semimonthly, monthly)
- Job Offer Showdown: hourly vs salary
- 8 Paycheck Challenge task cards + recording sheet
- Vocabulary matching (12 terms)
- 15-question quiz
- Completed notes and full answer keys with worked math
How to use it
Teach it over 5 class periods in personal finance, CTE, consumer math, FACS or life skills, or use individual stubs as bell ringers, homework or sub plans. Withholding amounts are given on each stub (they depend on each person's W-4 and state), so students focus on the math they can check: gross pay, overtime, Social Security, Medicare and net pay.
Skills practiced
Gross vs net paypayroll deductionsFICAovertimepre-tax 401(k)timesheetspercentscomparing job offers
