When your final paycheck is due in Montana
In Montana, if you are fired for cause or laid off, your final paycheck is due immediately, unless the employer has a written policy allowing the next regular payday or 15 days, whichever comes first. If you quit, it is due by the next regular payday or within 15 days, whichever comes first.
- Fired or laid off
- Immediately if fired for cause or laid off, unless a written policy allows the next regular payday or 15 days, whichever is first
- If you quit
- Next regular payday or 15 days, whichever is first
- If the employer pays late
- A penalty of up to 110% of the unpaid wages; nonpayment is also a misdemeanor.
- Filing a wage claim
- File a wage claim with the Montana Department of Labor and Industry, Wage and Hour Unit.
The law
Mont. Code §§ 39-3-205, 39-3-206. 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
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- 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 Montana 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.