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Fired in Texas: when your last paycheck has to be paid
Being fired does not change what you are owed — it changes the deadline. In Texas, final pay is due within six (6) calendar days of the last day of work (Texas Payday Law, Tex. Lab. Code § 61.014). If the sixth day falls on a day the business is normally closed, payment is due the next regular workday.
If that date has passed and the money has not arrived, you are no longer asking for a favour; you are recording a missed legal deadline. That is the difference a demand letter makes.
- Statute
- Tex. Lab. Code § 61.014 (Texas Payday Law)
- If fired
- Final pay is due within six (6) calendar days of the last day of work (Texas Payday Law, Tex. Lab. Code § 61.014). If the sixth day falls on a day the business is normally closed, payment is due the next regular workday.
- If you resigned
- If you quit or resign, final pay is due on the next regularly scheduled payday after your last day. If you gave notice, the employer may end your employment immediately and does not owe wages for the notice period.
- Late-pay penalty
- The Texas Payday Law does not add a waiting-time penalty that is payable to the employee. The remedy is a wage claim filed with the Texas Workforce Commission, which can order the employer to pay the wages found due and can penalise the employer administratively.
- PTO
- Unused vacation, holiday, sick leave and severance are owed only if the employer's written policy or agreement provides for them (TWC guidance).
- Small claims limit
- $20,000 for an individual
- Last verified
- 2026-11-03 two sources agree
What to put in the file before you write anything
- The exact date of your separation as it appears on the termination notice, the last timecard, or the last email from the employer — not the date you were told.
- Your final pay stub, or the absence of one, plus your last two regular stubs to prove the rate of pay.
- Any text, email or letter that states the reason for the termination. In Texas the deadline does not depend on the reason, but the record does.
- A screenshot of the payroll portal showing the last payment date, so the gap is documented by the employer's own system.
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 Texas Workforce Commission — Labor Law Section, a small claims judge — starts from those three facts. The letter is
built from Tex. Lab. Code § 61.014 (Texas Payday Law) 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 $20,000, 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.
Questions
Can my employer wait until the next payday after firing me in Texas?
Final pay is due within six (6) calendar days of the last day of work (Texas Payday Law, Tex. Lab. Code § 61.014). If the sixth day falls on a day the business is normally closed, payment is due the next regular workday.
What can I claim on top of the wages in Texas?
No separate statutory penalty is added to the wages themselves in Texas. The remedy is the unpaid wages plus the enforcement route: a claim with the Texas Workforce Commission — Labor Law Section or small claims court (limit $20,000 for an individual).
Other situations in Texas
resigning · a layoff · unused PTO · unpaid commissions · all Texas rules
Reviewed 2026-11-03 against the sources listed on the Texas page.
This is a self-help document tool, not legal advice, and no outcome is guaranteed.