Final Paycheck Laws: What Employers Should Know by State

Final paycheck laws dictate how much time an employer has to issue a final paycheck after an employee has voluntarily resigned or been terminated. Federal law does not generally require employers to issue final paychecks immediately. At a minimum, the federal Fair Labor and Standards Act (FLSA) requires former employees to receive payment on the next scheduled payday.

However, state regulations generally require employers to issue final paychecks on an employee’s last day or within a certain number of days after the employee leaves.

Final Paycheck Laws by State

Final paycheck laws vary by state—some, like California, require payment immediately when an employee is fired, while others, such as Tennessee, require payment within 21 days. Alternatively, a few (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, and Ohio) do not have any statutes that address final paychecks. The FLSA protects employees in these states, which allows employers to issue final paychecks on the next regular payroll day.

In general, however, states require payment on an employee’s last day, within a certain number of days following resignation or termination, or on the payday immediately following an employee’s last day. Here’s a state-by-state breakdown of final paycheck laws noting the amount of time you have to pay employee’s their final paycheck after their last day of work:

Name of State Name of State

Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

Alabama

• If Employee is Terminated: No law
• If Employee Quits: No law

Alaska

• If Employee is Terminated: Within three working days after the termination.
• If Employee Quits: On the next scheduled payday that is at least three days after the employee gives notice

Arizona

• If Employee is Terminated: Within seven business days or the next regular payday, whichever is first.
• If Employee Quits: The next regular payday

Arkansas

• If Employee is Terminated: The next regular payday.
• If Employee Quits: The next regular payday

California

• If Employee is Terminated: Immediately.
• If Employee Quits: Within 72 hours of final workday (without prior notice) or at time of quitting (with at least 72 hours prior notice of resignation)

Colorado

• If Employee is Terminated: Immediately.
• If Employee Quits: The next regular payday

Connecticut

• If Employee is Terminated: The next business day.
• If Employee Quits: The next regular payday

Delaware

• If Employee is Terminated: The next regular payday.
• If Employee Quits: The next regular payday

District of Columbia

• If Employee is Terminated: The next business day.
• If Employee Quits: Within seven days or the next regular payday, whichever is first

Florida

• If Employee is Terminated: No law
• If Employee Quits: None

Georgia

• If Employee is Terminated: No law
• If Employee Quits: None

Hawaii

• If Employee is Terminated: Immediately or within one business day.
• If Employee Quits: The next regular payday, unless the employee gives at least one pay period’s notice, then the employer shall pay all wages on the employee’s last day

Idaho

• If Employee is Terminated: Within ten days or the next payday, unless the employee makes a written request for earlier payment, then within 48 hours of receiving the request.
• If Employee Quits: Within ten days or the next payday, unless the employee makes a written request for earlier payment, then within 48 hours of receiving the request

Illinois

• If Employee is Terminated: The next regular payday.
• If Employee Quits: The next regular payday

Indiana

• If Employee is Terminated: The next regular payday.
• If Employee Quits: The next regular payday

Iowa

• If Employee is Terminated: The next regular payday.
• If Employee Quits: The next regular payday

Kansas

• If Employee is Terminated: The next regular payday.
• If Employee Quits: The next regular payday

Kentucky

• If Employee is Terminated: Within 14 days or the next regular payday, whichever is later.
• If Employee Quits: Within 14 days or the next regular payday, whichever is later

Louisiana

• If Employee is Terminated: Within 15 days or the next regular payday, whichever is first.
• If Employee Quits: Within 15 days or the next regular payday, whichever is first

Maine

• If Employee is Terminated: The next regular payday.
• If Employee Quits: The next regular payday

Maryland

• If Employee is Terminated: The next regular payday.
• If Employee Quits: The next regular payday

Massachusetts

• If Employee is Terminated: Immediately.
• If Employee Quits: The Saturday after quitting or the next regular payday, whichever is first

Michigan

• If Employee is Terminated: The next regular payday.
• If Employee Quits: The next regular payday

Minnesota

• If Employee is Terminated: The next regular payday or within 24 hours of written request from employee.
• If Employee Quits: The next regular payday between five and 20 days after their final workday

Mississippi

• If Employee is Terminated: No law
• If Employee Quits: No law

Missouri

• If Employee is Terminated: Immediately.
• If Employee Quits: No law

Montana

• If Employee is Terminated: Immediately (within four hours or the end of the business day, whichever is first).
• If Employee Quits: Within 15 days or the next regular payday, whichever is first

Nebraska

• If Employee is Terminated: The next regular payday or within two weeks, whichever is first.
• If Employee Quits: The next regular payday or within two weeks, whichever is first

Nevada

• If Employee is Terminated: Within three days.
• If Employee Quits: The next regular payday or within seven days, whichever is first

New Hampshire

• If Employee is Terminated: Within 72 hours.
• If Employee Quits: The next regular payday, unless the employee gave at least one pay period’s notice, then within 72 hours

New Jersey

• If Employee is Terminated: The next regular payday.
• If Employee Quits: The next regular payday

New Mexico

• If Employee is Terminated: Within five days.
• If Employee Quits: The next regular payday

New York

• If Employee is Terminated: The next regular payday.
• If Employee Quits: The next regular payday

N. Carolina

• If Employee is Terminated: The next regular payday.
• If Employee Quits: The next regular payday

N. Dakta

• If Employee is Terminated: The next regular payday.
• If Employee Quits: The next regular payday

Ohio

• If Employee is Terminated: No Law.
• If Employee Quits: No Law

Oklahoma

• If Employee is Terminated: The next regular payday.
• If Employee Quits: The next regular payday

Oregon

• If Employee is Terminated: The next business day.
• If Employee Quits: If employee gave at least 48 hours’ notice, immediately, otherwise within five days or the next regular payday, whichever is first

Pennsylvania

• If Employee is Terminated: The next regular payday.
• If Employee Quits: The next regular payday

Rhode Island

• If Employee is Terminated: The next regular payday.
• If Employee Quits: The next regular payday

S. Carolina

• If Employee is Terminated: Within 48 hours or the next regular payday, whichever is first.
• If Employee Quits: Within 48 hours or the next regular payday, whichever is first

S. Dakota

• If Employee is Terminated: The next regular payday or when the employee returns any outstanding company property.
• If Employee Quits: The next regular payday or when the employee returns any outstanding company property

Tennessee

• If Employee is Terminated: The next regular payday or within 21 days, whichever occurs later.
• If Employee Quits: The next regular payday or within 21 days, whichever occurs later

Texas

• If Employee is Terminated: Within six calendar days.
• If Employee Quits: The next regular payday

Utah

• If Employee is Terminated: Within 24 hours.
• If Employee Quits: Within 24 hours

Vermont

• If Employee is Terminated: Within 72 hours.
• If Employee Quits: The next regular payday or the Friday following the employee’s last day, whichever is first

Virginia

• If Employee is Terminated: The next regular payday.
• If Employee Quits: The next regular payday

Washington

• If Employee is Terminated: The next regular payday or sooner.
• If Employee Quits: The next regular payday or sooner

West Virginia

• If Employee is Terminated: On or before the next regular payday.
• If Employee Quits: On or before the next regular payday

Wisconsin

• If Employee is Terminated: The next regular payday or within 31 days, whichever is first.
• If Employee Quits: The next regular payday or within 31 days, whichever is first

Wyoming

• If Employee is Terminated: The next regular payday.
• If Employee Quits: The next regular payday

Who Must Follow Final Paycheck Laws?

Every employer must follow final paycheck laws, and you must follow the law of the state where the employee resides. So, with the proliferation of remote work, it’s important that you know and follow state laws that might be different from where your company is located.

Final Paychecks During Layoffs & Other Employer-initiated Terminations

In addition to variations in state requirements, final paycheck laws often differ depending on whether an employee resigns or is terminated. For this reason, it’s important to understand state requirements when deciding how to terminate an employee.

If you terminate an employee and need to issue a final paycheck quickly, you can print payroll checks online for free. If you use a provider to do payroll, be sure to give enough processing time to cut the check. While some providers may not be able to issue payroll with a same-day turnaround consistently, most are able to issue paychecks with a quicker turnaround in one-off situations. It’s important to familiarize yourself with what final paycheck processes your provider has in place to ensure you’re in compliance.

Penalties for Not Cutting Final Paychecks on Time

If an employer fails to comply with payroll requirements, it could be subject to a number of financial or legal penalties. For example, in California, employers that fail to issue a final paycheck on time are subject to waiting time penalties. This means that, in addition to the outstanding paycheck, the employer must pay the former employee wages for each day the paycheck is late under state law. Other states may require employers to pay double if they miss the statutory deadline for paying an employee’s final paycheck.

An employer that fails to issue a final paycheck in a timely manner may also be sued by its former employee. However, this is less common because the amount of a final paycheck may not justify the cost of hiring an attorney. Employees owed back pay can also enforce final paycheck laws by contacting the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division or their state’s labor department.

Best Practices for Final Paychecks

With the rise of remote work, it’s vital that you or your payroll department familiarize yourself with the final paycheck laws of every state where you have an employee. If and when you need to terminate an employee in a particular state, you’ll already know what you need to do to comply with that state’s final paycheck laws.

To remain in compliance, here are some best practices to help guide you:

1. Before terminating any employee, discuss your legal liability and exposure with your employment attorney.
2. Add a written policy for issuing final paychecks in every state where you have workers as part of your offboarding process (and update it regularly).
3. Set an annual reminder to update your payroll department on any legal changes.

Besides that, keep in mind things that you generally cannot do:

• Withhold unpaid wages
• Make a final paycheck conditional on an action by the employee (except in South Dakota, where you can hold the pay until the employee returns all company property)
• Withhold other types of compensation like vacation, bonus, commission pay
• Have the employee sign any document stating they won’t sue your company as a condition of receiving their final paycheck (you can attempt this through a severance pay agreement)

Bottom Line

It’s important for business owners to understand final paycheck laws to avoid penalties and limit the risk of lawsuits from former employees. While the FLSA imposes general final paycheck requirements, more stringent laws are imposed at the state level and vary depending on whether an employee resigns or is fired. What’s more, final paycheck laws depend on an employee’s location—not the employer’s—so you may need to familiarize yourself with multiple laws if you have out-of-state employees.