California final-paycheck deadlines
On a discharge, pay is due the same day: "If an employer discharges an employee, the wages earned and unpaid at the time of discharge are due and payable immediately." Cal. Lab. Code § 201(a)1 On a resignation, the deadline turns on whether the employee gave 72 hours' notice. Cal. Lab. Code § 202(a)2
- "Discharge" is broad — It covers more than firing. An employer also discharges an employee "when it releases an employee upon the employee’s completion of the particular job assignment or time duration for which he or she was hired." Smith v. Superior Court, 39 Cal. 4th 77 (2006)3
- Seasonal-layoff carve-out — For seasonal layoffs in the curing, canning, or drying of perishable fruit, fish, or vegetables, payment within a reasonable time counts as immediate, but "the reasonable time shall not exceed 72 hours." Cal. Lab. Code § 201(a)1
- Quitting — For an employee "not having a written contract for a definite period," wages are due "not later than 72 hours thereafter." If the employee gave 72 hours' notice, wages are due "at the time of quitting." An employee who quits without notice may ask for payment by mail, and the mailing date counts as the payment date. Cal. Lab. Code § 202(a)2
- Vested vacation is wages — Unused vested vacation must be paid "as wages at his final rate," and a contract or policy "shall not provide for forfeiture of vested vacation time upon termination." Cal. Lab. Code § 227.34
- Waiting-time penalties — If an employer "willfully fails to pay," the employee's wages "continue as a penalty from the due date thereof at the same rate until paid or until an action therefor is commenced; but the wages shall not continue for more than 30 days." Cal. Lab. Code § 203(a)5
- Good-faith-dispute defense — "a good faith dispute that any wages are due will preclude imposition of waiting time penalties under Section 203." Defenses "unsupported by any evidence, are unreasonable, or are presented in bad faith" do not qualify. Cal. Code Regs. tit. 8, § 135206
Practice notes
- Limitations: "Suit may be filed for these penalties at any time before the expiration of the statute of limitations on an action for the wages from which the penalties arise." Cal. Lab. Code § 203(b)5
- Section 203 also enforces the industry-specific timing rules in §§ 201.3, 201.5, 201.6, 201.8, 201.9, and 205.5 (for example, temporary services and motion-picture employers). Check whether one of them displaces the general rule. Cal. Lab. Code § 203(a)5