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Fired in Vermont: when your last paycheck has to be paid

Being fired does not change what you are owed — it changes the deadline. In Vermont, an employee who is discharged must be paid in full within 72 hours of the discharge (21 V.S.A. § 342).

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
21 V.S.A. § 342; § 347
If fired
An employee who is discharged must be paid in full within 72 hours of the discharge (21 V.S.A. § 342).
If you resigned
An employee who leaves voluntarily is paid on the last regular pay day, or if there is no regular pay day, on the following Friday.
Late-pay penalty
Vermont does not add a computable liquidated-damages formula to the wages. The remedy is the unpaid wages through the Department of Labor or small claims court, with costs where the statute allows.
PTO
Vermont treats accrued vacation as wages when the employer's policy creates the right; earned time is payable at separation unless a valid policy ends it.
Small claims limit
$5,000 for an individual
Last verified
2026-11-03 single source

What to put in the file before you write anything

  1. 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.
  2. Your final pay stub, or the absence of one, plus your last two regular stubs to prove the rate of pay.
  3. Any text, email or letter that states the reason for the termination. In Vermont the deadline does not depend on the reason, but the record does.
  4. 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 Vermont Department of Labor — Wage and Hour, a small claims judge — starts from those three facts. The letter is built from 21 V.S.A. § 342; § 347 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 $5,000, 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

Can my employer wait until the next payday after firing me in Vermont?

An employee who is discharged must be paid in full within 72 hours of the discharge (21 V.S.A. § 342).

What can I claim on top of the wages in Vermont?

No separate statutory penalty is added to the wages themselves in Vermont. The remedy is the unpaid wages plus the enforcement route: a claim with the Vermont Department of Labor — Wage and Hour or small claims court (limit $5,000 for an individual).

Other situations in Vermont

resigning · a layoff · unused PTO · unpaid commissions · all Vermont rules

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