What does OASDI mean on my pay stub?

OASDI stands for Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance, the official name for Social Security. It's 6.2% of your wages, up to $184,500 of wages in 2026.

What is FIT on a pay stub?

FIT means federal income tax withheld. The amount depends on your pay, your Form W-4 and the IRS withholding tables, so it can change when any of those change.

What does SDI mean on a pay stub?

SDI is state disability insurance, a payroll deduction in states that run a disability program, such as California, New Jersey and New York. If your state doesn't have one, you won't see it.

Is MED on my pay stub Medicare or medical insurance?

It can be either. In the taxes section it usually means Medicare tax, which is 1.45% of wages, and in the deductions section it usually means health insurance premiums.

What does ER mean on a pay stub?

ER means employer. Lines marked ER, such as an employer 401(k) match or the employer's share of Social Security, are paid by the company and aren't taken out of your pay.

Pay stub abbreviations and what they mean

What FIT, OASDI, MED, SIT, SDI, FLI, YTD, PTO and dozens of other pay stub abbreviations mean, grouped into earnings, taxes, deductions and totals.

Updated Nov 11, 2026 · 6 min read

Payroll systems squeeze their labels into narrow columns, so they abbreviate almost everything. Different systems also use different codes for the same thing: Social Security might be SS, OASDI, SOC SEC or FICA-SS. The tables below group the common codes by the section of the stub where you'll find them. If a code on your stub isn't here, ask your payroll contact; they can tell you exactly what it covers.

Earnings codes

Code	Stands for	What it means
REG	Regular	Pay for normal hours at your base rate, or your salary for the period.
OT	Overtime	Hours over 40 in a workweek for non-exempt employees, paid at least 1.5 times the regular rate under federal law.
DT	Double time	Hours paid at 2 times the regular rate, where an employer policy or state law calls for it.
HOL	Holiday	Pay for a paid holiday, or extra pay for working on one.
VAC	Vacation	Paid vacation hours.
PTO	Paid time off	A single bank of hours that covers vacation, sick and personal days.
SICK, SCK	Sick pay	Paid sick hours.
BON	Bonus	A one-off or performance payment.
COMM	Commission	Pay based on sales.
TIPS	Tips	Tips reported to the employer. They often appear even when you already took them home in cash, so they can be taxed.
RETRO	Retroactive pay	Back pay for an earlier period, such as a raise that started before payroll caught up.
SHIFT, SHF DIFF	Shift differential	Extra pay per hour for nights, weekends or other less popular shifts.
REIMB	Reimbursement	Repayment of work expenses you paid for. Usually not taxed when it follows the employer's expense rules.
GTL	Group-term life	The taxable value of employer-paid life insurance over $50,000 of coverage. It's added to taxable wages but isn't paid to you in cash.
HRS, RATE, AMT	Hours, rate, amount	Column headings: hours worked, pay per hour, and hours × rate.

Tax codes

Code	Stands for	What it means
FIT, FWT, FED WH, FITW	Federal income tax withheld	Federal income tax, based on your pay, your Form W-4 and the IRS withholding tables.
FICA	Federal Insurance Contributions Act	Social Security and Medicare together. Some stubs show one FICA line, others split it in two.
SS, OASDI, SOC SEC, FICA-SS	Social Security (Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance)	6.2% of wages up to the yearly wage base, $184,500 in 2026.
MED, MEDI, MEDCR, FICA-MED	Medicare	1.45% of all wages, plus an extra 0.9% withheld on wages over $200,000 in a year.
SIT, SWT	State income tax withheld	Income tax for the state where you work.
LIT, LOC, LWT, CITY	Local income tax	City, county or school district income tax, where one applies.
SDI, TDI	State (or temporary) disability insurance	Your share of a state disability program, in states that have one, such as California, New Jersey and New York.
FLI, PFL, PFML	Family leave insurance, paid family leave, paid family and medical leave	Your share of a state paid leave program.
SUI, SUTA, UI	State unemployment insurance	Paid by employers almost everywhere. Employees contribute only in Alaska, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
FUTA	Federal Unemployment Tax Act	Paid by the employer only. It's never taken out of your pay.
WC	Workers' compensation	Insurance for work injuries, generally paid by the employer.
W/H, WH	Withholding	Tax taken out of your pay and sent to the government for you.

Deduction codes

Code	Stands for	What it means
401K, DEF COMP	Traditional 401(k), deferred compensation	Pre-tax retirement savings. Lowers income tax, but not Social Security or Medicare.
ROTH, R401K	Roth 401(k)	Retirement savings taken from pay after tax.
403B, 457	403(b) and 457(b) plans	Retirement plans for workers at schools, nonprofits and government employers.
MED, MEDICAL, HLTH	Medical insurance	Health insurance premiums, usually pre-tax through a cafeteria plan.
DEN, DENT	Dental insurance	Dental premiums.
VIS, VSN	Vision insurance	Vision premiums.
HSA	Health savings account	Pre-tax savings for medical costs, for people covered by a high-deductible health plan. The account is yours to keep.
FSA	Flexible spending account	Pre-tax money for medical costs. Money you don't use by the end of the plan year can be lost, unless the plan has a grace period or carryover.
DCFSA, DCAP	Dependent care FSA	Pre-tax money for child or other dependent care.
LIFE, STD, LTD	Life, short-term and long-term disability insurance	Premiums for insurance you've chosen through your employer.
GARN	Garnishment	Money taken under a court or government order, for example for unpaid debts or taxes.
CS, CSO	Child support	Child support withheld under an order and sent on for you.
UNION, DUES	Union dues	Dues paid to your union.
401K LN, LOAN	401(k) loan repayment	Paying back a loan from your 401(k), from after-tax pay.
ADV	Advance	Paying back an advance on your wages.
CHAR	Charitable	Donations made through payroll.

Totals and other labels

Code	Stands for	What it means
GROSS	Gross pay	Total earnings before anything is taken out.
NET	Net pay	Take-home pay after taxes and deductions.
YTD	Year to date	The total from January 1 through this paycheck.
CUR, CURR	Current	This pay period only.
PP, PER	Pay period	The dates this paycheck covers.
PE, PPE	Period ending	The last day of the pay period.
CHK, CHK #	Check	The check number, or the date of the check.
DD, DIR DEP	Direct deposit	Pay sent straight to your bank. The stub may say "non-negotiable" because it isn't a check you can cash.
EE, ER	Employee, employer	Who pays. "EE MED" is your share of a cost; "ER 401K" is the employer's contribution.
EMP ID, EE ID	Employee ID	Your number in the payroll system.
M/S, FS	Marital or filing status	The status used for federal withholding.
ALLOW, EXEMPT	Allowances, exemptions	From W-4 forms used before 2020. The current federal W-4 doesn't use allowances, but some state withholding forms still do.
TXBL	Taxable wages	The wages a tax is figured on, after pre-tax deductions.
ACCR, BAL	Accrued, balance	PTO or sick hours earned, and hours still available.

Codes that mean more than one thing

MED is the classic trap: it can mean Medicare tax or medical insurance. Check which section it's in. In the taxes section it's almost always Medicare, which moves with your pay (1.45% of wages). In the deductions section it's usually health insurance, which tends to be the same amount every paycheck.

TRANS can be a pre-tax transit or commuter benefit, or a local transit tax in the few places that have one. LOC can mean local tax or, on some stubs, a work location code. When a label is ambiguous, the section and the amount usually tell you which it is.

Lines you may see but don't pay

Some stubs include an employer section for information: ER SS and ER MED (the employer's matching Social Security and Medicare), FUTA, SUI, WC, an ER 401K match or an ER HSA contribution. These aren't subtracted from your net pay. An employer 401(k) match is money added to your account, not taken from your check.

For a walk-through of a full stub, see how to read a pay stub. For how Social Security and Medicare are figured, see FICA tax explained, and for which deductions lower which taxes, see pre-tax vs post-tax deductions. The taxes we calculate page lists the state disability and paid leave programs by state.

Frequently asked questions

This guide is general information, not tax or legal advice. Rules change; check the IRS or your state's tax agency for your situation.