Home › Final paycheck letters › Florida › commission

Unpaid commissions in Florida: earned is earned

Commissions and bonuses are owed according to the terms of your agreement; with no state final-pay statute, the written plan is the controlling document.

Employers usually argue the commission was not "earned" yet. The answer is in the plan's own words: if every condition the plan sets had been satisfied before you left, the timing clause moves the payment date, it does not erase the debt.

Statute: No Florida statute sets a final-pay deadline. Fla. Stat. § 448.08 provides attorney's fees for unpaid wages.
If fired: Florida has no state law that sets a deadline for the final paycheck. Wages are owed under your employment contract or the employer's established payday, and federal law requires payment for all hours worked — but neither sets a final-pay deadline.
If you resigned: Same as a discharge: no state deadline. The practical benchmark is the employer's next regular payday for the pay period you worked.
Late-pay penalty: Florida imposes no waiting-time penalty for a late final paycheck. Under Fla. Stat. § 448.08 a worker who has to sue and wins may recover reasonable attorney's fees, which is the main lever the statute gives you.
PTO: Florida does not require payout of unused vacation or PTO unless the employer's policy or contract promises it.
Small claims limit: $8,000 for an individual
Last verified: 2026-11-03 single source

What to put in the file before you write anything

The commission plan or comp letter, including every amendment, and the exact definition of when a commission is earned.
Deal records showing the sale closed, the customer paid, or whatever condition the plan requires.
A calculation of each commission claimed, with the deal, the rate and the date the condition was met.
Any email where a manager confirmed the amount — the most persuasive document in most commission disputes.

What the letter does that a phone call cannot

A demand letter fixes three things at once: the amount, the date each item was due, and the date the employer was on notice. Every forum that can help you — the U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division (Florida has no state wage-claim agency), a small claims judge — starts from those three facts. The letter is built from No Florida statute sets a final-pay deadline. Fla. Stat. § 448.08 provides attorney's fees for unpaid wages. and your own figures, so the deadline it states is the one that applies to your separation, not a generic thirty days.

If the amount fits inside $8,000, small claims court is usually faster than an agency queue; if it does not, the agency route and a demand first is the cheaper path.

Build the Florida letter — $9.99 Free: calculate my deadline

Questions

Are commissions wages in Florida?

Commissions and bonuses are owed according to the terms of your agreement; with no state final-pay statute, the written plan is the controlling document.

My employer says commissions are paid only to current employees. Is that enforceable in Florida?

A clause that forfeits commissions already earned is the clause most often struck down when challenged. The employer can usually set the timing of payment; it is much harder for it to keep money the plan says you earned.

Other situations in Florida

being fired · resigning · a layoff · unused PTO · all Florida rules

Reviewed 2026-11-03 against the sources listed on the Florida page. This is a self-help document tool, not legal advice, and no outcome is guaranteed.