Guide · updated 2026-11-04

Final paycheck deadlines by state: the states we checked against the statute

When you leave a job, the last paycheck is not governed by one national rule. Each state sets its own deadline, its own late-pay remedy, and its own view of unused vacation. The table below covers the 30 states whose rules we have independently recalculated from the statute, with the deadline for a discharge and for a resignation.

StateAfter dischargeAfter resignationLate-pay remedy
Californiasame day72 hoursdaily wage × days (max 30)
Floridanext paydaynext paydayno employee-side penalty
Hawaiisame daynext paydayno employee-side penalty
Idahonext paydaynext paydayno employee-side penalty
Illinoisnext paydaynext payday5%/month (max 100%)
Iowanext paydaynext payday5%/day (max 100%)
Kansasnext paydaynext payday1%/day (max 100%)
Mainenext paydaynext paydayup to 2× wages
Marylandnext paydaynext paydayup to 3× wages
Massachusettssame daynext paydayup to 3× wages
Michigansame daynext paydayno employee-side penalty
Missourisame daynext paydayno employee-side penalty
Nebraskanext paydaynext paydayno employee-side penalty
Nevadasame daynext paydaydaily wage × days (max 30)
New Hampshire3 daysnext paydayno employee-side penalty
New Jerseynext paydaynext paydayup to 200%
New Yorknext paydaynext paydayup to 2× wages
North Carolinanext paydaynext paydayno employee-side penalty
North Dakotanext paydaynext paydayno employee-side penalty
Ohionext paydaynext paydaygreater of 6% or $200
Pennsylvanianext paydaynext paydaygreater of 25% or $500
Rhode Islandnext paydaynext paydayno employee-side penalty
South Carolina2 days2 daysno employee-side penalty
Texas6 daysnext paydayno employee-side penalty
Utahnext daynext paydaydaily wage × days (max 60)
Vermont3 daysnext paydayno employee-side penalty
Virginianext paydaynext paydayno employee-side penalty
Washingtonnext paydaynext paydayup to 2× wages
West Virginianext paydaynext paydayup to 2× wages
Wisconsinnext paydaynext paydayup to 50%

How to read the table

Three deadline styles appear above. Some states fix a number of calendar days. Some use business days, which skip weekends and federal holidays. And a large group uses “the next regular payday” — the date depends on your employer’s payroll calendar, so the same statute produces different dates for a weekly and a monthly payroll. That last point matters when you are deciding whether you have a claim: a demand letter should state the actual date, not an approximation.

Two things people get wrong

Penalties are not automatic. Several states add a multiple of the wages only after the deadline is missed — New York’s 100% liquidated damages, Washington’s double damages, Massachusetts’ treble damages. Before the deadline that exposure is not money you are owed today; it is what a court could add if the employer keeps the money past the date.

“No penalty” does not mean “no claim.” Florida, Texas, North Carolina and others add no employee-side penalty formula, but the wages are still owed, and some states allow attorney’s fees when a worker has to sue and wins.

Work out your own date

Our free calculator takes your last day, how the job ended, and (where the state uses it) your next payday date, and shows the deadline the statute produces for your state — with the statute section and the official source link on the same page.

Pick your state and check your deadline — free

Every row is compiled from the state’s own statute or labor agency and independently recalculated; the citations, review dates and the open dataset (CC BY 4.0) are published at locafact.com/data. This page is general information, not legal advice, and no outcome is guaranteed. Deadlines and remedies change; check the linked statute before relying on a row.