Final Paycheck Laws by State: The Complete 2026 Guide
Last updated: January 2026
When an employee leaves your company—whether they quit or were terminated—how quickly do you need to issue their final paycheck? And what about their unused vacation, PTO, or floating holidays?
The answer depends entirely on which state they work in, how they left, and sometimes even how your policies are written. Get it wrong, and you're looking at penalties that can dwarf the paycheck itself.
Why This Is So Confusing
There's no federal law requiring immediate payment of final wages or payout of unused PTO. Instead, each state sets its own rules, and those rules vary wildly:
- Some states require same-day payment for terminated employees
- Others give you until the next regular payday
- A few distinguish between employees who quit with notice versus without
- Several impose daily penalties for late payment that can exceed the original wages owed
- Some states mandate vacation payout; others leave it entirely to company policy
- Floating holidays may or may not be treated as vacation depending on how your policy is written
And the rules change. States update their labor codes, courts issue new interpretations, and agencies revise their guidance. What was compliant last year might not be today.
Final Paycheck Deadlines by State
The table below shows when final paychecks are due for both voluntary separations (employee quits) and involuntary separations (employee is terminated or laid off).
| State | Voluntary (Quit) | Involuntary (Terminated) | Government Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Next regular payday | Next regular payday | No state statute; follows federal FLSA |
| Alaska | Next regular payday (within 3 working days) | Within 3 working days | Alaska DOL |
| Arizona | Next regular payday or within 7 working days | Within 7 working days | AZ ICA |
| Arkansas | Next regular payday | Next regular payday | AR DOL |
| California | 72 hours (or immediately if 72+ hours notice given) | Immediately | CA DIR |
| Colorado | Next regular payday | Immediately | CO CDLE |
| Connecticut | Next regular payday | Next business day | CT DOL |
| Delaware | Next regular payday | Next regular payday | DE DOL |
| Florida | Next regular payday | Next regular payday | No state statute; follows federal FLSA |
| Georgia | Next regular payday | Next regular payday | No state statute; follows federal FLSA |
| Hawaii | Immediately (or next working day if not possible) | Immediately (or next working day) | HI DLIR |
| Idaho | Next regular payday (within 10 days) | Within 10 days (or 48 hours if requested) | ID DOL |
| Illinois | Next regular payday | Next regular payday | IL DOL |
| Indiana | Next regular payday | Next regular payday | IN DOL |
| Iowa | Next regular payday | Next regular payday | IA IWD |
| Kansas | Next regular payday | Next regular payday | KS DOL |
| Kentucky | Next regular payday (within 14 days) | Next regular payday (within 14 days) | KY LWC |
| Louisiana | Next regular payday (within 15 days) | Next regular payday (within 15 days) | LA LWC |
| Maine | Next regular payday | Next regular payday | ME DOL |
| Maryland | Next regular payday | Next regular payday | MD DOL |
| Massachusetts | Next regular payday | Immediately | MA AG |
| Michigan | Next regular payday | Next regular payday | MI LEO |
| Minnesota | Next regular payday | Within 24 hours (if demanded) | MN DLI |
| Mississippi | Next regular payday | Next regular payday | No state statute; follows federal FLSA |
| Missouri | Next regular payday | Immediately | MO DOL |
| Montana | Next regular payday | Immediately | MT DLI |
| Nebraska | Next regular payday (within 2 weeks) | Next regular payday (within 2 weeks) | NE DOL |
| Nevada | Next regular payday | Immediately | NV DETR |
| New Hampshire | Next regular payday | Within 72 hours | NH DOL |
| New Jersey | Next regular payday | Next regular payday | NJ DOL |
| New Mexico | Next regular payday (within 5 days) | Within 5 days | NM DOL |
| New York | Next regular payday | Next regular payday | NY DOL |
| North Carolina | Next regular payday | Next regular payday | NC DOL |
| North Dakota | Next regular payday | Next regular payday | ND DOL |
| Ohio | Next regular payday (within 15 days) | Next regular payday (within 15 days) | OH COM |
| Oklahoma | Next regular payday | Next regular payday | OK DOL |
| Oregon | Next regular payday (within 5 days; immediately if 48+ hours notice) | Immediately (by end of next business day) | OR BOLI |
| Pennsylvania | Next regular payday | Next regular payday | PA L&I |
| Rhode Island | Next regular payday | Next regular payday | RI DLT |
| South Carolina | Next regular payday (within 48 hours) | Within 48 hours | SC LLR |
| South Dakota | Next regular payday | Next regular payday | SD DLR |
| Tennessee | Next regular payday (within 21 days) | Next regular payday (within 21 days) | TN DOL |
| Texas | Next regular payday | Within 6 days | TX TWC |
| Utah | Next regular payday | Within 24 hours | UT LWC |
| Vermont | Next regular payday | Within 72 hours | VT DOL |
| Virginia | Next regular payday | Next regular payday | VA DOLI |
| Washington | Next regular payday | Next regular payday | WA L&I |
| West Virginia | Next regular payday | Within 72 hours | WV DOL |
| Wisconsin | Next regular payday | Next regular payday | WI DWD |
| Wyoming | Next regular payday (within 5 working days) | Within 5 working days | WY DOL |
| District of Columbia | Next regular payday | Next regular payday (within 4 days if terminated) | DC DOES |
States in bold require immediate or next-business-day payment for terminated employees—these are where timing mistakes are most costly.
The States That Will Cost You the Most
If you're late on final paychecks or fail to pay out required vacation in these states, the penalties can be severe:
California
California's waiting time penalties are notorious. For each day you're late (up to 30 days), you owe the employee a full day's wages at their regular rate.
Example: An employee making $300/day who gets their final paycheck a week late could be owed an additional $2,100 in penalties—on top of the wages owed.
California also prohibits any forfeiture of earned vacation. Your policy cannot condition payout on giving notice, being terminated for cause, or any other event after the vacation was earned.
Source: California Labor Code Section 203
Massachusetts
Massachusetts allows employees to recover triple damages for willful violations of final pay requirements. That $2,000 final paycheck you were a week late on? Now it's potentially $6,000.
The Massachusetts Attorney General's Advisory on Vacation Policies explicitly states that employers cannot require employees to forfeit earned vacation as a condition of resignation or termination.
Source: MA Attorney General's Vacation Advisory
Colorado
Colorado recently strengthened its penalties. Under the 2021 Colorado Supreme Court ruling in Nieto v. Clark's Market, employers can now owe the greater of $1,000 or 125% of the unpaid wages.
Colorado's Division of Labor Standards and Statistics has also issued explicit guidance that floating holidays are vacation pay if usable any day employees select. This guidance, updated May 2024, makes Colorado one of the strictest states for floating holiday compliance.
Source: Colorado INFO #3E
Oregon
Oregon mirrors California with up to 30 days of penalty wages, plus the employee can recover attorney's fees. Oregon requires immediate payment upon involuntary termination—by the end of the next business day.
Source: Oregon BOLI
Illinois
Illinois requires payout of earned vacation upon separation and provides that employers cannot withhold earned vacation because an employee failed to give notice or was terminated involuntarily.
Source: Illinois DOL Deductions FAQ
Common Mistakes to Avoid
1. Assuming "next regular payday" means you have weeks
In states like California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Utah, terminated employees must be paid immediately or within 24-72 hours. "Next regular payday" only applies to employees who quit in many of these states.
2. Forgetting about accrued vacation in mandatory payout states
In California, Colorado, Montana, and Nebraska, earned vacation cannot be forfeited under any circumstances. You must pay it out regardless of how the employee left or what your policy says.
3. Calling it something other than "vacation" to avoid payout
The name doesn't matter. "Personal days," "PTO," "floating holidays," and "annual leave" are all treated as vacation if they can be used for any purpose at the employee's discretion.
4. Not accounting for remote workers
Your company might be in Texas, but if your employee works from California, California's rules apply. Multi-state compliance is where most payroll teams get tripped up.
5. Waiting to deduct disputed amounts
Some employers delay final paychecks while sorting out equipment returns, expense advances, or other deductions. In most cases, you cannot withhold an entire paycheck over a disputed deduction. Pay what's undisputed on time, and pursue the rest separately.
6. Having a combined PTO policy without understanding the implications
If you combine vacation and sick time into one PTO bank in a state like California or Colorado, the entire balance becomes payable at termination—even the portion that would have been "sick leave."
What Happens If You Miss the Deadline?
Consequences vary by state but typically include:
- Waiting time penalties: Additional wages owed for each day you're late
- Statutory penalties: Fixed amounts per violation, sometimes per day
- Interest: Accruing on unpaid wages
- Multiplied damages: 2x or 3x the amount owed in states like Massachusetts
- Attorney's fees: Many state wage laws allow employees to recover legal costs
- Administrative complaints: State labor departments can investigate and impose fines
- Litigation: Class actions for systematic violations
The reputational damage matters too. Disgruntled former employees talk, post on Glassdoor, and warn others. In a tight labor market, that's a cost you can't easily quantify.
How to Stay Compliant
Know where your employees actually work
For each employee, you need to know which state's laws apply. For remote workers, this is typically the state where they perform their work, not where your company is headquartered.
Build triggers into your payroll system
When a termination is processed, your system should flag the state-specific deadline and ensure the final check is issued on time.
Don't wait for HR to tell payroll
Many final paycheck violations happen because terminations aren't communicated to payroll quickly enough. Same-day notification processes are essential if you have employees in immediate-payment states.
Review your PTO and floating holiday policies
Make sure you understand whether your policies create payout obligations. If you offer floating holidays in California, Colorado, or Massachusetts, assume they'll need to be paid out unless they're explicitly tied to specific events.
Have a multi-state compliance resource
State laws change, and keeping a spreadsheet updated manually is a recipe for errors.
About Payroll Beacon
We built Payroll Beacon because we were tired of the same thing you are: Googling payroll compliance laws, finding outdated information, and never being quite sure if we had it right.
Payroll Beacon tracks final paycheck deadlines, vacation payout requirements, floating holiday rules, and over 5,100 other payroll compliance data points across all 50 states—always current, always accurate.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Consult with qualified legal counsel for guidance specific to your situation. Laws change frequently; verify current requirements with your state's department of labor.