When your final paycheck is due in California
In California, if you are fired or laid off, your final paycheck is due immediately. If you quit, it is due within 72 hours; on the last day if you gave at least 72 hours’ notice.
- Fired or laid off
- Immediately
- If you quit
- Within 72 hours; on the last day if the employee gave at least 72 hours’ notice
- If the employer pays late
- An employer who willfully pays late owes a waiting-time penalty of the daily rate of pay for each day late, up to 30 days.
- Unused vacation
- Accrued vacation must be paid as part of final wages.
- Filing a wage claim
- File a wage claim with the California Labor Commissioner’s Office (DLSE).
The law
Cal. Lab. Code §§ 201, 202, 203, 227.3. Read the statute or the state agency’s page.
Checked against the statute in October 2026. Laws change, so confirm the current rule before you rely on it.
What to do next
If the deadline has passed, ask for the wages in writing first and keep a copy. The free first letter in the Wage Claim Letters kit does this. If that doesn’t work, file a wage claim with the agency listed above. The final paycheck lookup compares states side by side.
Other states
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- Washington, D.C.
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
General information about California law, not legal advice, and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Wage Claim Letters is a self-help template kit from Kits For That.