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Pennsylvania sets its own deadline, its own penalty, and its own rule on unused vacation. Here is what the statute says, what it is worth to you, and where to file if the money never arrives.
Whether you were fired, laid off or you quit, all wages earned become due and payable no later than the employer's next regular payday on which those wages would otherwise have been paid (43 P.S. § 260.5). If you ask, the employer must send the final payment by certified mail.
Resignation follows the same rule: everything earned is due by the next regular payday. The statute deliberately gives you no shorter deadline, but it also forbids the employer from holding pay to force return of equipment.
Pennsylvania does not treat unused vacation as wages that must be paid at separation unless the employer's written policy or contract creates that obligation.
Commissions and bonuses that are earned are compensation under the WPCL; withholding them at separation is a wage-payment violation unless a written plan says otherwise.
43 P.S. § 260.10: if wages are still unpaid 30 days after the regular payday and there is no good-faith dispute, the employee may recover liquidated damages of 25% of the unpaid wages or $500, whichever is greater, plus a court-awarded attorney's fee.
On $2,000.00 of unpaid wages, the liquidated damages would be $500.00 (the $500 floor only matters on small claims). Treat that number as leverage in the letter, not as a promise: a court or agency decides what is actually owed, and the penalty provisions usually require the employer to have acted wilfully or without good cause.
File with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry — Bureau of Labor Law Compliance, which handles wage claims administratively, usually at no cost. The alternative is small claims court, where the limit for an individual in Pennsylvania is $12,000. Both routes go better with a dated written demand and a certified-mail receipt, because the first question either forum asks is when the employer knew.
Whether you were fired, laid off or you quit, all wages earned become due and payable no later than the employer's next regular payday on which those wages would otherwise have been paid (43 P.S. § 260.5). If you ask, the employer must send the final payment by certified mail.
Resignation follows the same rule: everything earned is due by the next regular payday. The statute deliberately gives you no shorter deadline, but it also forbids the employer from holding pay to force return of equipment.
Pennsylvania does not treat unused vacation as wages that must be paid at separation unless the employer's written policy or contract creates that obligation.
Two routes: file a wage claim with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry — Bureau of Labor Law Compliance (https://www.pa.gov/agencies/dli/resources/compliance-laws-and-regulations/labor-management-relations/pennsylvania-s-minimum-wage-act/wage-faqs), or sue in small claims court where an individual's claim limit is $12,000. A dated written demand sent first is what makes either route easier, because it fixes the date the employer was on notice.
Only official sources are used: the state labor agency, the statute itself, and where relevant the U.S. Department of Labor. Third-party summary sites are deliberately excluded because they disagree with each other on penalty formulas.
Reviewed 2026-11-03 · reviewed again every 90 days.
being fired · resigning · a layoff · unused PTO · unpaid commissions