When your final paycheck is due in Maine
In Maine, if you are fired or laid off, your final paycheck is due on the next established payday. The same rule applies if you quit.
- Fired or laid off
- Next established payday
- If you quit
- Same as fired or laid off
- If the employer pays late
- The employer owes the unpaid wages plus interest, costs, attorney fees, and an extra 2 times the unpaid wages as liquidated damages; fines of $100 to $500 per violation also apply.
- Unused vacation
- Unused vacation accrued on or after January 1, 2023 must be paid, unless the employer has 10 or fewer employees or is a public employer.
The law
26 M.R.S. §§ 626, 626-A. 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, small claims court is the usual next step. 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
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- 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 Maine 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.