When your final paycheck is due in Kentucky
In Kentucky, if you are fired or laid off, your final paycheck is due by the next normal pay period or within 14 days, whichever is later. The same rule applies if you quit.
- Fired or laid off
- Next normal pay period or 14 days, whichever is later
- If you quit
- Same as fired or laid off
- If the employer pays late
- The employer can owe the unpaid wages plus an equal amount as liquidated damages and attorney fees (the court may reduce this for good faith).
- Filing a wage claim
- File an employment complaint online with the Kentucky Labor Cabinet, Division of Wages and Hours.
The law
Ky. Rev. Stat. §§ 337.055, 337.385. 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
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- 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 Kentucky 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.