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You quit in Oregon — 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 Oregon.

If you quit without giving at least 48 hours' notice, all wages earned are due and payable within five days (ORS 652.140). If you gave at least 48 hours' notice, wages are due within 48 hours or by the next regular payday, whichever the employer chooses.

Statute
ORS 652.140; ORS 652.150 (penalty wages)
If fired
On discharge, all wages earned and unpaid are due and payable within 48 hours, excluding weekends and holidays (ORS 652.140).
If you resigned
If you quit without giving at least 48 hours' notice, all wages earned are due and payable within five days (ORS 652.140). If you gave at least 48 hours' notice, wages are due within 48 hours or by the next regular payday, whichever the employer chooses.
Late-pay penalty
ORS 652.150: if wages are not paid when due, the employer owes penalty wages equal to eight hours' pay at the employee's regular rate for each day the wages remain unpaid, up to 30 days.
PTO
Oregon treats accrued vacation as wages when the employer's policy creates the right; earned vacation is payable at separation unless a valid policy provides otherwise.
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. 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 Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI), a small claims judge — starts from those three facts. The letter is built from ORS 652.140; ORS 652.150 (penalty 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 $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.

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

Questions

Does giving notice change my final pay date in Oregon?

If you quit without giving at least 48 hours' notice, all wages earned are due and payable within five days (ORS 652.140). If you gave at least 48 hours' notice, wages are due within 48 hours or by the next regular payday, whichever the employer chooses.

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

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 Oregon

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

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