When your final paycheck is due in North Carolina
In North Carolina, if you are fired or laid off, your final paycheck is due on the next regular payday. The same rule applies if you quit.
- Fired or laid off
- Next regular payday
- If you quit
- Same as fired or laid off
- If the employer pays late
- The employer owes the unpaid amount with interest plus an equal amount as liquidated damages, unless it shows good faith.
- Filing a wage claim
- File a wage complaint with the N.C. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Bureau.
Bonuses and commissions are due on the first regular payday after the amount can be calculated. Payment can be sent by trackable mail if the employee asks in writing.
The law
N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 95-25.7, 95-25.22. 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
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- 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 North Carolina 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.