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Unpaid commissions in New York: earned is earned

Commission salespeople are covered by § 191; the written commission agreement controls timing, but earned commissions cannot simply be kept after separation.

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
N.Y. Lab. Law §§ 191, 198
If fired
Final wages are due no later than the regular payday on which they would have been paid had you stayed employed (Labor Law § 191). New York does not require the employer to pay on the day of discharge.
If you resigned
The same rule applies when you resign: final wages are due on the next regular payday. On request the employer must mail the final pay.
Late-pay penalty
Labor Law § 198: a worker who wins may recover the unpaid wages plus liquidated damages of 100% of the unpaid amount, with interest and attorney's fees. In practice that doubles the exposure on the wage figure alone.
PTO
Accrued vacation is wages in New York: it must be paid at separation unless the employer gave employees a written forfeiture policy in advance.
Small claims limit
$10,000 for an individual
Last verified
2026-11-03 single source

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 New York State Department of Labor — Division of Labor Standards, a small claims judge — starts from those three facts. The letter is built from N.Y. Lab. Law §§ 191, 198 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 $10,000, 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 New York?

Commission salespeople are covered by § 191; the written commission agreement controls timing, but earned commissions cannot simply be kept after separation.

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

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 New York

being fired · resigning · a layoff · unused PTO · all New York rules

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