Reference Source

14 records

How soon must my final paycheck be paid after I quit or am fired?

14 records, one fact each. Every value is transcribed from the source that states it and carries the sentence it was taken from: 19 sources across 15 sites, last checked 2026-08-31, due for re-check by 2027-08-31. Every record is listed below, each linking the page its value came from.

Records14
Sources19
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Licenceunknown

About this data

Every state sets its own deadline for paying a departing employee's final wages, and most states set two different deadlines depending on whether the employee was fired (often immediate or within days) or quit voluntarily (often the next scheduled payday). Several states also set a specific penalty for a late final paycheck — California's waiting-time penalty continues the employee's daily wage for up to 30 days; Massachusetts mandates treble damages. Existing 50-state charts are maintained by payroll vendors as marketing content and, with one exception, do not cite or link the state's own statute per row — a comparison chart that cannot be checked against its own source. Each record is one state, with the deadline for an involuntary termination, the deadline for a voluntary quit where it differs, any stated penalty for late payment, and the statute or agency page it comes from, each backed by a verbatim quote. Answers 'how long does my employer have to give me my last paycheck in [state]' and 'what happens if my final paycheck is late'.

The data

StateDeadline after firing/layoffDeadline after quittingPenalty for late paymentStatute or source
Arizonawithin seven working days or the end of the next regular pay period, whichever is soonerno later than the regular payday for the pay period during which the termination occurredguilty of a petty offense23-353
Californiaimmediately at the time of terminationwithin 72 hours of quittingan amount equal to the employee's daily rate of pay for each day the wages remain unpaid, up to a maximum of thirty (30) calendar daysLabor Code Sections 201 and 227.3
Coloradodue and payable immediatelydue and payable upon the next regular paydayfor non-willful violations, the penalty is double the wages owed or $1,000 (whichever is greater)8-4-109
Illinoisin full at the time of separation, if possible, but in no event later than the next regularly scheduled paydayin full at the time of separation, if possible, but in no event later than the next regularly scheduled paydaydamages equal to 5% of the underpayment, per month (calculated from the date of the underpayment) for each month during which wages or final compensation remain unpaid820 ILCS 115 /5
Massachusettspaid in full on the day of his dischargepaid in full on the following regular pay day, and, in the absence of a regular pay day, on the following Saturdaymandatory triple damages for weekly wage law violations as well as court costs and attorneys' feesMGL c. 149, § 148
Minnesotawithin 24 hours of the employee's demand for wageson the next pay period that is more than five days after quitting. However, wages must be paid within 20 days of separationMinnesota Statutes 181.13
Nevadadue and payable immediatelywithin 7 days or by the next regular pay day, whichever is earlierthe wages or compensation of the employee continues at the same rate from the day the employee resigned, quit or was discharged or placed on nonworking status until paid or for 30 days, whichever is lessNRS 608.020
New Jerseynot later than the regular payday for the pay period during which the employee's termination, suspension or cessation of employment (whether temporary or permanent) took placenot later than the regular payday for the pay period during which the employee's termination, suspension or cessation of employment (whether temporary or permanent) took place34:11-4.3
New Yorkno later than the pay day on which their next pay would have been due had they still been employedno later than the pay day on which their next pay would have been due had they still been employedLabor Law Section 191
Oregonby the end of the next business daywithin five business days or on the next regular payday, whichever comes firsta penalty wage equal to eight times the employee’s regular rate of wage for each day that final wages go unpaid up to 30 daysORS 652.110, ORS 652.120, ORS 652.140, ORS 652.150
Texaswithin six (6) calendar days of dischargethe next regularly-scheduled payday following the effective date of resignationTexas Payday Law
Utahall wages are due immediately and payable within 24 hours of separationthe wages become due and payable on the next regular paydayPayment of Wages Act, Utah Code Ann. §34-28-1 et-seq.
Washingtonon or before the next regularly scheduled paydayon or before the next regularly scheduled payday
Wisconsinin accordance with the employer's regular pay schedulein accordance with the employer's regular pay scheduleincreased wages of up to 100% of the wages due per Section 109.11, Stats.Chapter 109, Wis. Stats.

Where this came from

Every record above links the page it was taken from and quotes the sentence that states it. These are the 19 sources this dataset was assembled from.

Machine-readable

From your own code

Same records, same quotes, without scraping the page: refsource is on PyPI and npm. Each value comes back carrying the URL it was read from and the sentence on that page that states it — .source and .quote sit on the value itself rather than in a side channel, so the checking step is available instead of skipped.

pip install refsource
refsource lookup final-paycheck-deadlines-by-state jurisdiction=Arizona

npx -y refsource lookup final-paycheck-deadlines-by-state jurisdiction=Arizona

Set your AI assistant up to use this

Two files and no account. Put this in .mcp.json at the root of your project — Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, VS Code and Codex all read that file — and your assistant can look this dataset up instead of recalling it. The server is remote, keyless and read-only.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "referencesource": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://referencesource.org/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Add to Cursor · or, on the command line: claude mcp add --transport http referencesource https://referencesource.org/mcp --scope project

Then one line in the project's CLAUDE.md or AGENTS.md, so the assistant knows when to reach for it:

When a question needs "Final paycheck deadlines by US state — how long an employer has to pay a departing employee's last wages, quoted from the state's own labor law", call the referencesource MCP server at https://referencesource.org/mcp (tool `search_records`, dataset_slug `final-paycheck-deadlines-by-state`) instead of answering from memory — every record it returns carries its source URL and a verbatim quote from that page.

What each tool does, and the servers built over single registers: Connect your AI assistant.

14 records. last verified against source . due for re-check by .

Licence. unknown