To request your Leave and Earnings Statement, log in to myPay at mypay.dfas.mil if you’re military or a Department of Defense civilian, or Employee Express at employeeexpress.gov if you’re a federal civilian at another agency. Both let you view, download, and print recent statements. For older records that have aged off those systems, current service members go through their finance office or askDFAS, veterans request records from the National Personnel Records Center, and former civilian employees contact their previous agency’s payroll office.
Which System Holds Your LES
Active duty, Reserve, National Guard, military retirees and annuitants, and DoD civilian employees all use myPay, run by the Defense Finance and Accounting Service. The system is available around the clock and also handles tax withholding and bank account changes.1Defense Finance and Accounting Service. myPay System Information
Federal civilian employees outside DoD generally use Employee Express, which is managed by the Office of Personnel Management.2Employee Express. Employee Express – Home A few agencies run their own payroll portals instead. If neither myPay nor Employee Express fits your situation, your agency’s HR or finance office can point you to the right one.
Pulling a Recent LES Online
On myPay, sign in with your Login ID (usually your Social Security Number or DoD ID Number) and password. If you have a Common Access Card, you can use it for certificate-based login on a CAC-enabled computer.3Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS). DFAS myPay – Online Account Management for DFAS Payroll Services
Employee Express accepts a PIV smartcard or Login.gov credentials. If you go through Login.gov, you’ll authenticate there and get redirected back into your account. OPM employees are required to use their PIV card.2Employee Express. Employee Express – Home
Once you’re in, look for the section labeled “Leave and Earnings Statement,” “Pay Statements,” or “Pay History.” Pick the pay period, then view the statement on screen, save it as a PDF, or print it.
How Far Back the Online Systems Go
This is where most requests run into trouble. myPay keeps roughly the last 13 months of LES records available online. Anything older than that isn’t in the system.4Defense Finance and Accounting Service. Military LES Requests – FAQs Employee Express is far more limited: you can only pull up the current pay period and the two previous ones.5U.S. Office of Personnel Management. What Can I Do on Employee Express? If your record has aged off, you’ll need to request it another way.
Requesting an Older LES
If You’re Still Serving
Start by submitting a request through your unit, which will forward it to the local finance office. DFAS holds LES records going back to January 1992 that can be retrieved this way. If that route doesn’t work, submit the request directly to DFAS through the askDFAS online portal. Anyone requesting records on behalf of a service member under a power of attorney must include a copy of the POA with the submission.6Defense Finance and Accounting Service. How to Request Your Leave and Earnings Statement
If You’re a Veteran or Next of Kin
Historical military pay records are held by the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis. Veterans and the next of kin of a deceased veteran can start a request through the eVetRecs online system.7National Archives. Military Personnel Records
Everyone else uses Standard Form 180 (SF-180), available from the National Archives website or from a VA office or veterans service organization. The form has to be signed in cursive and dated within the past year. Send it to the National Personnel Records Center at 1 Archives Drive, St. Louis, MO 63138, or fax it to 314-801-9195. File a separate form for each person whose records you’re asking about.8National Archives. Standard Form 180
These requests can take weeks or longer. If you need the records for a loan closing, a benefits claim, or another firm deadline, submit early.
If You’re a Former Federal Civilian
There’s no single form equivalent to the SF-180 for civilian pay records. Contact the HR or payroll office of the agency you worked for and ask what they can pull from their archives. The process varies from one agency to another.
When You Can’t Log In
Forgotten passwords are the most common obstacle. On myPay, click “Forgot or Need a Password?” on the homepage and fill in two of the three identifying fields tied to your account. Answer your security questions correctly and you can reset the password on the spot. If you miss the security questions, you can still request a temporary password sent to a government or agency email, by text, or by mail.9Defense Finance and Accounting Service. myPay Password Reset FAQ One catch: myPay only sends resets to contact methods already on file, so if your email or phone has changed, call the myPay Customer Care Center first to update them.
For Employee Express, password issues on the Login.gov path go through Login.gov’s own account recovery. PIV card problems usually need your agency’s IT help desk.
If self-service doesn’t fix it, DFAS accepts questions through askDFAS or by phone at their customer service line.1Defense Finance and Accounting Service. myPay System Information Employee Express users can submit a help request from the Employee Express homepage.2Employee Express. Employee Express – Home
Save Each LES on Payday
Because online access is short, the reliable move is to download a PDF of every LES the day it posts and keep it somewhere you control. Employee Express users especially: after two pay periods, the statement is gone from the portal.
If you’re approaching separation or retirement from military service, pull every available LES from myPay before you lose access. The same goes for federal civilians leaving government. Requesting records after you’ve separated is possible, but it adds weeks of paperwork you can skip by saving the files while your account is still open.