# Massachusetts — 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

For Massachusetts, deadline after firing/layoff is paid in full on the day of his discharge; deadline after quitting is paid in full on the following regular pay day, and, in the absence of a regular pay day, on the following Saturday; penalty for late payment is mandatory triple damages for weekly wage law violations as well as court costs and attorneys' fees; statute or source is MGL c. 149, § 148, recorded from its source on 2026-08-31.

- **State:** Massachusetts _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **Deadline after firing/layoff:** paid in full on the day of his discharge _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Deadline after quitting:** paid in full on the following regular pay day, and, in the absence of a regular pay day, on the following Saturday _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Penalty for late payment:** mandatory triple damages for weekly wage law violations as well as court costs and attorneys' fees _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **Statute or source:** MGL c. 149, § 148 _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_

## What the source says

> “any employee [voluntarily] leaving his employment shall be paid in full on the following regular pay day, and, in the absence of a regular pay day, on the following Saturday; and any employee discharged [or terminated] from such employment shall be paid in full on the day of his discharge...”

## Where each value comes from

This source states these in separate places, so each value is shown with the passage that states it.

### Penalty for late payment

> MGL c. 149, § 150 Provides for mandatory triple damages for weekly wage law violations as well as court costs and attorneys' fees.

### Statute or source

> MGL c. 149, § 148 Payment of wages, commissions: exemption by contract, persons deemed employers, provision for cashing check or draft, violation of statute

## Source

- https://www.mass.gov/info-details/massachusetts-law-about-wages

Last verified: 2026-08-31. Review by: 2027-08-31.
Part of [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](https://referencesource.org/final-paycheck-deadlines-by-state/).