When your final paycheck is due in Massachusetts
In Massachusetts, if you are fired or laid off, your final paycheck is due on the day of discharge. If you quit, it is due on the next regular payday.
- Fired or laid off
- On the day of discharge
- If you quit
- Next regular payday
- If the employer pays late
- An employee who wins a wage case is awarded triple damages, plus costs and attorney fees.
- Unused vacation
- Holiday or vacation pay owed under an oral or written agreement counts as wages.
- Filing a wage claim
- Before suing, file a wage complaint with the Massachusetts Attorney General; a lawsuit may follow 90 days later, or sooner with the Attorney General’s written permission.
The law
Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 149, §§ 148, 150. Read the statute.
Checked in October 2026 against a published copy of the statute, because the official code site was unavailable. 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
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- 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 Massachusetts 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.