When is your final paycheck due in California?

The California rule in full

An employee who is discharged must be paid all wages, including accrued vacation, immediately at the time of termination. Separate timelines apply to seasonal agricultural, motion picture and oil drilling work.

A payroll team will usually answer this question from its own calendar. The deadline comes from the statute, so it is worth checking the date you were given against the rule above before you accept it.

Does California pay out unused PTO?

California treats paid vacation as wages that vest as you earn them. An employment contract or policy cannot provide for forfeiture of vested vacation on separation, so unused vacation is paid out at your final rate as part of the final check. Accrued paid sick leave is different: California does not require an employer to cash out unused sick days when you leave, unless the employer's own policy promises it or your paid time off is a single combined bank that functions as vacation.

Cal. Labor Code §§ 227.3, 246(g)(1)

What it costs your employer to pay late

Waiting time penalty: where the failure is willful, the employee's daily rate of pay for each day the wages remain unpaid, up to 30 calendar days. It does not apply where there is a documented good-faith dispute.

What your employer may deduct

California allows a deduction only where it is required or empowered by law, expressly authorized in writing by you to cover insurance premiums or benefit plan contributions, or authorized by a wage or collective bargaining agreement for health, welfare or pension contributions. Deducting for a cash shortage, breakage or lost equipment is a narrower question: the Labor Commissioner's position is that an employer may not deduct for a loss caused by simple negligence, mistake or accident, but the Industrial Welfare Commission wage orders do permit a deduction where the employer can prove the loss resulted from your dishonest or willful act, or your gross negligence. An accusation on its own is not enough — the employer has to be able to prove it.

Cal. Labor Code §§ 221, 224; DLSE Deductions guidance; IWC Wage Orders

How to claim unpaid wages in California

File a wage claim with the Labor Commissioner's Office. The claim goes to a settlement conference and, if unresolved, to an administrative hearing before a hearing officer, which is quicker and cheaper than court. Bring pay stubs, your offer letter, any written notice of your last day, and a note of the date you actually received the final payment.

Before you file

1. 1Ask payroll in writing for an itemized breakdown of the final payment and the date it was issued. A written record is what every later step depends on, and the request itself is often what resolves it.
2. 2Save your pay stubs, offer letter, any written notice of your last day, and the employer's PTO policy. Do it now if you still have system access.
3. 3Note the exact date the wages became due under the California rule above, and the date you were actually paid. The gap between them is the claim.
4. 4If it is still unresolved, file with the agency above rather than waiting for HR. The filing deadline runs from when the wages were due, not from when the employer stops replying.

California final paycheck questions