When your final paycheck is due in Wisconsin
In Wisconsin, if you are fired or laid off, your final paycheck is due on the next regular payday, or the date set by the 31-day pay rule in § 109.03(1), whichever is earlier; within 24 hours if the business merges, liquidates or relocates. The same rule applies if you quit.
- Fired or laid off
- Next regular payday, or the date set by the 31-day pay rule in § 109.03(1), whichever is earlier; within 24 hours if the business merges, liquidates or relocates
- If you quit
- Same as fired or laid off
- Filing a wage claim
- File a wage claim with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, Equal Rights Division; an employee may also sue without filing a claim first.
The law
Wis. Stat. § 109.03. 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 Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- Washington, D.C.
- West Virginia
- Wyoming
General information about Wisconsin 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.