> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.zeal.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Create Employee Check > Create a new payroll check for a W-2 employee by submitting shifts, a reporting period, and a check date. Employee checks are the core payroll object in Zeal. Each check represents a single payment to a W-2 employee and contains the shifts (units of work and earnings) that determine gross pay, tax withholding, and net disbursement. See the [Reporting Period Object](/reference/employee-checks/reporting-periods/reporting-period-object) and [Shift Object](/reference/employee-checks/shifts/shift-object) for the objects this endpoint references. ## OpenAPI ````yaml openapi/employee-checks.json post /employeeCheck openapi: 3.1.0 info: title: zeal-api version: '1.0' servers: - url: https://api.zeal.com security: - sec0: [] paths: /employeeCheck: post: summary: Create Employee Check description: Create a check for an employee. operationId: create-employee-check requestBody: content: application/json: schema: type: object required: - companyID - employeeID - reportingPeriodID - check_date - shifts properties: companyID: type: string description: Company ID of the employer employeeID: type: string description: Employee ID of the employee reportingPeriodID: type: string description: >- The reporting period ID that you want this employee check to belong to. See [Reporting Periods](ref:reporting-periods) check_date: type: string description: >- Check date for this employee check. If the check_date falls on a weekend/bank holiday, or the current time is after 2PM PST, two days before the check_date, adjust the `check_date` to the next valid business day. Zeal will not roll forward this date automatically. format: date approval_required: type: boolean description: >- Set to true if this check requires manual approval by the employer. Otherwise, by default, Zeal will automatically process the check on the day before the check date. You can approve the check either in the dashboard, or by using [update check](ref:update-employee-check) default: false disbursement: type: object description: >- This object includes information regarding how the net pay is disbursed to the employee. Zeal supports Direct Deposit, Download Check, Physical Check, Prepaid, Instant Pay and Paycard (Early Access) disbursement methods. properties: method: type: string description: >- The method of disbursement. There are 6 options: `direct_deposit` (Zeal will make a direct deposit to the employee's bank account), `download_check` (Zeal will give you the link to a PDF version of the check), `physical_check` (Zeal will send a physical check to the employee's home address on file), `prepaid` (Zeal will *not* disburse the net pay), `paycard` (Zeal will instantly transfer funds to the existing paycard), and `instant_pay` (Zeal will send funds to the existing worker's Instant Pay wallet) default: direct_deposit enum: - direct_deposit - download_check - physical_check - prepaid - paycard - instant_pay shifts: type: array description: >- Array of shift objects. The set of shifts attached to this employee check describe the work done and the earnings owed to this employee. You can only create shifts by creating an employee check (through this endpoint). However, you can edit and delete shifts that are still pending. Also supports various earning components as objects. See [Shift Object](ref:shift-object) for more information. items: properties: time: type: string description: ISO-8601 indicating when the shift was completed format: date-time hourly: type: object required: - hours properties: hours: type: number description: Number of regular hours worked in this shift default: 0 format: float wage: type: number description: >- Wage for this employee. If not provided, Zeal uses employee's default_wage default: 0 format: float custom_name: type: string description: Custom name to be attached to an earning component required: - time type: object flsa_ot_recommendation: type: boolean description: >- If set to true, we will automatically convert the check to include our OT recommendation at the time of processing **NOTE: Only applicable for FLSA Overtime Policy** default: false speed: type: string description: >- The ACH speed of the check, accepts `two_day`, `one_day`,`one_day_no_reserve`, or `zero_day_no_reserve` as values default: two_day enum: - two_day - one_day - one_day_no_reserve - zero_day_no_reserve apply_employee_deductions: type: boolean description: >- Applies a deduction to this check for each employee deduction template that is effective at the time of the check_date for the employee default: false metadata: type: object description: >- Custom object you can attach to the employee check object. This is useful for storing additional information about the object in a custom, structured format. Individual keys can be unset by posting an empty value to them. All keys can be unset by posting an empty value to metadata. [Metadata](ref:metadata) properties: {} examples: Request Example: value: approval_required: true disbursement: method: direct_deposit shifts: - hourly: hours: 20 wage: 30 time: '2022-02-10' reportingPeriodID: 61d5533c8fc6b7af3bfc2ff3 check_date: '2022-02-15' companyID: fc235f012bae46aa8a082f347715bcfa employeeID: 62547a2228a58200241e2b42 responses: '200': description: '200' content: application/json: examples: Result: value: success: true data: employeeCheckID: '9827465739' employerCheckID: null companyID: 1b5n28nrideucd24 employeeID: '1234567890' status: pending is_salary: false first_name: erlich middle_initial: null last_name: bachman reportingPeriodID: '0982349584387523234' check_date: '2020-01-07' approval_required: true approved: false metadata: checkCorrelationID: '1' disbursement: method: direct_deposit disbursement_status: pending gross_pay: 40 net_pay: null taxes: null total_employer_taxes: null total_employee_taxes: null totals: gross_earnings: 0 gross_pay: 40 net_pay: 0 employer_taxes: 0 employee_taxes: 0 employee_deductions: 0 employee_garnishments: 0 employer_deductions: 0 company_debit: 0 company_cash_requirement: 0 shifts: - employeeID: '1234567890' shiftID: '123456789' first_name: erlich last_name: bachman metadata: {} time: '2019-12-12T10:00:00' hourly: hours: 2 wage: 20 currency: USD schema: type: object properties: success: type: boolean example: true default: true data: type: object properties: employeeCheckID: type: string example: '9827465739' employerCheckID: {} companyID: type: string example: 1b5n28nrideucd24 employeeID: type: string example: '1234567890' status: type: string example: pending is_salary: type: boolean example: false default: true first_name: type: string example: erlich middle_initial: {} last_name: type: string example: bachman reportingPeriodID: type: string example: '0982349584387523234' check_date: type: string example: '2020-01-07' approval_required: type: boolean example: true default: true approved: type: boolean example: false default: true metadata: type: object properties: checkCorrelationID: type: string example: '1' currency: type: string description: >- Currency of the employee check. `USD` for US payroll or `CAD` for Canadian payroll. **NOTE: `CAD` is only applicable for Canadian Payroll (Early Access)** enum: - USD - CAD disbursement: type: object properties: method: type: string example: direct_deposit disbursement_status: type: string example: pending gross_pay: type: integer example: 40 default: 0 net_pay: {} taxes: {} total_employer_taxes: {} total_employee_taxes: {} totals: type: object properties: gross_earnings: type: integer example: 0 default: 0 gross_pay: type: integer example: 40 default: 0 net_pay: type: integer example: 0 default: 0 employer_taxes: type: integer example: 0 default: 0 employee_taxes: type: integer example: 0 default: 0 employee_deductions: type: integer example: 0 default: 0 employee_garnishments: type: integer example: 0 default: 0 employer_deductions: type: integer example: 0 default: 0 company_debit: type: integer example: 0 default: 0 company_cash_requirement: type: integer example: 0 default: 0 shifts: type: array items: type: object properties: employeeID: type: string example: '1234567890' shiftID: type: string example: '123456789' first_name: type: string example: erlich last_name: type: string example: bachman metadata: type: object properties: {} time: type: string example: '2019-12-12T10:00:00' updatedAt: type: string format: date-time example: '2024-01-21T21:29:42Z' hourly: type: object properties: hours: type: integer example: 2 default: 0 wage: type: integer example: 20 default: 0 '400': description: '400' content: text/plain: examples: Result: value: |- { "success": false, "errors": [ { "message": "Employee Check for this employee and check date already exists. Please choose another check date or add shifts to the existing check.", "code": 32 } ] } schema: type: object properties: success: type: boolean example: false default: true errors: type: array items: type: object properties: message: type: string example: >- Employee Check for this employee and check date already exists. Please choose another check date or add shifts to the existing check. code: type: integer example: 32 default: 0 deprecated: false components: securitySchemes: sec0: type: apiKey in: header name: Authorization x-bearer-format: bearer ````