When your final paycheck is due in Hawaii
In Hawaii, if you are fired or laid off, your final paycheck is due at the time of discharge, or the next working day if conditions prevent immediate payment. If you quit, it is due on the next regular payday; at the time of quitting if you gave at least one pay period’s notice.
- Fired or laid off
- At the time of discharge, or the next working day if conditions prevent immediate payment
- If you quit
- Next regular payday; at the time of quitting if the employee gave at least one pay period’s notice
- If the employer pays late
- An employer who pays late without equitable justification owes the unpaid wages plus an equal amount and 6% yearly interest, and a civil penalty.
- Unused vacation
- Not required by statute; the Hawaii Supreme Court held unused vacation is not “wages” under the wage law (case note to § 388-3).
- Filing a wage claim
- File a wage complaint with the Hawaii Wage Standards Division.
The law
Haw. Rev. Stat. §§ 388-3, 388-10. 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
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- 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 Hawaii 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.