How long does your employer have to pay your final check? And what are the penalties if they don’t?
Free ConsultationUnder California employment law, departing employees are entitled to receive their final paycheck almost immediately. Employees who quit must receive their final paycheck within 72 hours of giving notice that they’re leaving. Employees who are fired must be paid on the same day as termination.
California final paycheck laws require that the final paycheck include all wages and business expenses that the employee is owed. Also, the final paycheck must include the cash value of benefits owed to the employee (such as accrued vacation days).
Fired workers who don’t get their final paycheck on their last day are entitled to recover penalties from their employer for every day they have to wait. Workers who quit and don’t receive their final paycheck within 3 days can recover the same penalties. The penalty is a full-day’s wages for every day the worker has to wait, up to a maximum of 30 days. For violating California final paycheck law, employers can end up owing more in waiting-time penalties than what they owed for the final paycheck itself.
Example: Fed up with his job, John tells his boss that he quits. His boss loses it, and decides to withhold John’s final paycheck to punish him. Six months pass, and John starts looking for a lawyer to help him recover what he’s owed. How much does John’s employer owe him? Answer | John’s employer owes him the amount of wages that should have been on his final paycheck, plus 30 days of wages — the maximum penalty.
Below, we discuss 4 common questions employees often have about California’s final paycheck law.
California final paycheck law: penalty of up to 30 days of wages
We can help you recover penalties of up to 30-days’ worth of wages if you didn’t receive your last check in a timely manner.
