What You Need to Know About Final Paycheck Laws in California
Employees are entitled to all due and unpaid wages in their final paychecks. Here’s everything you need to know about receiving your final paycheck in California.
California employees who lose their job or provide adequate notice of resignation can receive the final paycheck immediately upon termination or their last day of employment. Employees who do not provide adequate notice or certain employees who lose their job may not receive their final paycheck on the last day of employment. Employers who do not pay the final paycheck in the specified period must pay a waiting time penalty and may be liable for violating California’s wage and hours laws.
What Does a Final Paycheck in California Include?
Employees who are discharged, terminated, or resign are entitled to all wages due at termination.
The wages California employees are entitled to in the final paycheck include:
- Unpaid wages,
- Earned but unused vacation and paid time off,
- Accrued bonuses,
- Commission pay, and
- Expense reimbursement.
Related: California Workplace Retaliation FAQs
How Long Does an Employer Have to Pay a Final Paycheck in California?
Employees who are terminated or laid off must generally receive a final paycheck immediately upon termination. Employees who quit or resign with prior notice of at least 72 hours must receive the final paycheck when quitting or resigning.
Exemptions to Receiving a Final Paycheck on the Last Day
California’s Labor Code details exemptions to employers paying a final paycheck on an employee’s last day of employment, including:
Employees who quit without notice,
Employees who quit or resign without adequate prior notice, less than 72 hours before their last day, are entitled to the final paycheck within 72 hours of their last day. The employer must provide all due final wages within 72 hours and may pay through the mail with the mailing date within 72 hours.
Seasonal worker layoffs,
Seasonal employees who lose off at the end of seasonal employment in canning, drying, or curing fruit, vegetables, or fish may need to wait for their final paycheck. Employers must provide all due wages within 72 hours of the layoff.
Motion picture layoffs,
Employees working in film production may be paid the next regular payday, up to 2 weeks from the time of layoff. Employers may wait this long to provide the employee with the final paycheck if the employment terms require particular computation due to the odd hours employers in the film industry work.
Oil drilling layoffs,
Employers have 24 hours to provide employees in oil drilling the final paycheck after they get discharged. The pay period excludes Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays.
Final Paycheck Penalties in California
An employer who does not pay the final paycheck on time may face a waiting time penalty. The waiting time penalty is the amount of the employee’s average daily wages for every day the check is late for up to 30 days. California employees may collect the waiting time penalty in the final paycheck. California intends for the waiting time penalty to deter employers from delaying the payment of final paychecks.
Related: California Employment Law FAQs
What if an Employer Does Not Pay Unpaid Wages?
Employers who do not make final payments upon termination or within the allowed exemption may be liable for violating California wage and hour laws. Employees may file a lawsuit against their employee for owed unpaid wages and other damages if they wilfully deny the wages.
Employees may seek damages for:
- Unpaid wages,
- Unpaid overtime,
- Hours worked “off-the-clock,”
- Unprovided meal breaks,
- Unprovided rest breaks,
- Failure to pay California minimum wage,
- Failure to pay local city or county minimum wage, or
- Late payment of wages.
Employers may avoid penalties and damages if they have a good faith dispute concerning the number of wages due. The employer must present the evidence of the good faith dispute and, if successful, will not owe the employee any damages or disputed wages. However, the employer must immediately pay the employee any available, undisputed wages.
Employers who violated California’s final paycheck laws without a good faith error or dispute may be liable for all due wages, waiting for time penalties, interest, and damages as deemed by the court or agency.
Contact Us
If you or a loved one would like to learn more about California Final Paycheck Laws, get your free consultation with one of our Employment Attorneys in California today!