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Unpaid commissions in Maryland: earned is earned

Commissions earned before termination are wages under § 3-505 and are due on the same next-payday schedule.

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
Md. Code, Lab. & Empl. §§ 3-505, 3-507.2
If fired
All wages due for work performed before the termination must be paid on or before the day you would have been paid had the employment continued (Md. Code, Lab. & Empl. § 3-505(a)).
If you resigned
Resignation is covered by the same rule: wages due for work already performed are payable on the day you would have been paid had you stayed.
Late-pay penalty
Md. Code, Lab. & Empl. § 3-507.2: once two weeks have passed from the date payment was required, the employee may sue, and if the court finds the wages were withheld without a bona fide dispute it may award up to three times the wage, plus reasonable counsel fees and costs. The multiplier is discretionary, so the letter records the exposure rather than promising it.
PTO
Maryland does not require payout of accrued leave where the employer has a written policy limiting it, notified the employee of the benefit, and the employee is not entitled to payment under that policy (§ 3-505(b)). Absent such a policy, accrued leave is wages due at termination.
Small claims limit
$5,000 for an individual
Last verified
2026-11-03 two sources agree

What to put in the file before you write anything

  1. The commission plan or comp letter, including every amendment, and the exact definition of when a commission is earned.
  2. Deal records showing the sale closed, the customer paid, or whatever condition the plan requires.
  3. A calculation of each commission claimed, with the deal, the rate and the date the condition was met.
  4. 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 Maryland Department of Labor — Division of Labor and Industry, a small claims judge — starts from those three facts. The letter is built from Md. Code, Lab. & Empl. §§ 3-505, 3-507.2 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 $5,000, 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.

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Questions

Are commissions wages in Maryland?

Commissions earned before termination are wages under § 3-505 and are due on the same next-payday schedule.

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

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 Maryland

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

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