When your final paycheck is due in Washington, D.C.
In Washington, D.C., if you are fired or laid off, your final paycheck is due by the next working day; 4 days if you handled the employer’s money. If you quit, it is due by the next regular payday or within 7 days, whichever is earlier.
- Fired or laid off
- By the next working day; 4 days if the employee handled the employer’s money
- If you quit
- Next regular payday or 7 days, whichever is earlier
- If the employer pays late
- Liquidated damages of 10% of the unpaid wages per working day, or treble the unpaid wages, whichever is smaller.
- Filing a wage claim
- File a wage claim with the D.C. Department of Employment Services, Office of Wage-Hour Compliance.
The law
D.C. Code § 32-1303. Read the statute or the D.C. 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 Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
General information about Washington, D.C. 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.