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You quit in Missouri — when is your final paycheck due?

Employers often tell departing employees that quitting forfeits the last paycheck, or that pay will arrive "when payroll gets to it". Neither is the law in Missouri.

If you quit, wages are due on the next regular payday; the same-day rule in § 290.110 is written for employees who are discharged or refused further employment.

Statute
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.110
If fired
On discharge — with or without cause — unpaid wages earned at the contract rate become due and payable on the day of the discharge (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.110). Missouri is a same-day state.
If you resigned
If you quit, wages are due on the next regular payday; the same-day rule in § 290.110 is written for employees who are discharged or refused further employment.
Late-pay penalty
Section 290.110 is titled 'penalty for delay': wages are due the day of discharge, and a late payment exposes the employer to a court-assessed penalty and, for a wilful failure, criminal exposure. The statute does not fix a percentage you can compute yourself, so this letter demands the wages and puts the exposure on the record.
PTO
Missouri requires payout of accrued vacation only where the employer's policy or contract provides for it.
Small claims limit
$5,000 for an individual
Last verified
2026-11-03 single source

What to put in the file before you write anything

  1. Your written resignation and the date it was delivered — email timestamps are enough, and the delivery date is what starts the clock.
  2. Whether you gave notice, and how much: some states shorten or lengthen the deadline based on notice, and the letter has to state it accurately.
  3. Your final timesheet or shift records for the last pay period, including any hours worked after you announced you were leaving.
  4. Any policy the employer says forfeits pay, PTO or commissions. Ask for it in writing — that request is itself part of the record.

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 Missouri Department of Labor — Division of Labor Standards, a small claims judge — starts from those three facts. The letter is built from Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.110 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.

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

Questions

Does giving notice change my final pay date in Missouri?

If you quit, wages are due on the next regular payday; the same-day rule in § 290.110 is written for employees who are discharged or refused further employment.

Can my employer hold my last check until I return equipment in Missouri?

Not lawfully as a condition of wages. Deductions and offsets are limited, and holding earned wages to force the return of property is the kind of self-help that turns a wage claim into a penalty claim.

Other situations in Missouri

being fired · a layoff · unused PTO · unpaid commissions · all Missouri rules

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