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Unpaid commissions in North Dakota: earned is earned

Commissions earned before separation are wages and follow the regular-payday rule.

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.D. Cent. Code § 34-14-03
If fired
When an employee is discharged, terminates employment or separates voluntarily, unpaid wages become due and payable at the regular payday (N.D. Cent. Code § 34-14-03).
If you resigned
Voluntary separation is expressly covered: wages due at the regular payday.
Late-pay penalty
North Dakota does not add liquidated damages to the employee's claim for a late final paycheck; a violation is a misdemeanour and the remedy is the wages through the Department of Labor or small claims court.
PTO
North Dakota requires payout of accrued vacation only if the employer's written policy provides for it.
Small claims limit
$15,000 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 North Dakota Department of Labor and Human Rights, a small claims judge — starts from those three facts. The letter is built from N.D. Cent. Code § 34-14-03 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 $15,000, 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 North Dakota?

Commissions earned before separation are wages and follow the regular-payday rule.

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

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 North Dakota

being fired · resigning · a layoff · unused PTO · all North Dakota rules

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