Readable version: Final paycheck deadlines by state, explained state by state. All site datasets: open data · data roundups.
What this dataset covers
When an employer must hand over the last paycheck after it ends a job, after an employee quits with notice and after an employee quits without notice, plus whether accrued vacation and commissions are part of final wages.
Most often unconfirmed in this release: commissions (29), vacation (23), method (20), penalty (12), quit_no_notice (7). 15 jurisdictions have their own page on the site (AZ, CA, CO, CT, HI, MA, MN, MO, NH, OR, PA, TX, UT, WI, WY); their rows also carry the explanatory text and all sources shown there.
Field dictionary
| Field | Meaning | Type | In this release |
|---|---|---|---|
jurisdiction_code | Two-letter postal code of the state or DC. | string | 51 of 51 filled |
jurisdiction | State name (or District of Columbia). | string | 51 of 51 filled |
agency | State agency that enforces final pay rules. Present only for jurisdictions that have their own page on the site. | string | 15 of 51 filled |
law | Statute or rule the official source cites for final pay. Present only for jurisdictions that have their own page on the site. | string | 11 of 51 filled |
fired.rule.kind | Machine-readable type of the deadline after the employer ends the job (for example a count of working days or the next regular payday). | string (code) | 47 of 51 filled: next_payday (20), working_days (6), same_day (6), payday_or_days (3), hours (3) |
fired.rule.n | Number of days or hours in that deadline, when the rule has one. | integer | 18 of 51 filled; 1 to 72 |
fired.text | The deadline after the employer ends the job, in plain English. Present only for jurisdictions that have their own page on the site. | string (free text) | 15 of 51 filled |
fired.wording | The official source's own words for that deadline. Present only for jurisdictions that have their own page on the site. | string (free text) | 15 of 51 filled |
quit_notice.rule.kind | Machine-readable type of the deadline when an employee quits and gave notice. | string (code) | 44 of 51 filled: next_payday (25), payday_or_days (6), same_day (3), none (2), payday_gap (2) |
quit_notice.rule.n | Number of days or hours in that deadline, when it has one. | integer | 10 of 51 filled; 7 to 72 |
quit_notice.rule.gap | For payday rules with a gap: the minimum days between the last day and the payday that counts. | integer | 2 of 51 filled; 3 to 6 |
quit_notice.text | The deadline when an employee quits with notice, in plain English. Present only for jurisdictions that have their own page on the site. | string (free text) | 15 of 51 filled |
quit_notice.wording | The official source's own words for that deadline. Present only for jurisdictions that have their own page on the site. | string (free text) | 15 of 51 filled |
quit_no_notice.rule.kind | Machine-readable type of the deadline when an employee quits without notice. | string (code) | 44 of 51 filled: next_payday (27), payday_or_days (6), none (2), payday_gap (2), payday_or_working_days (2) |
quit_no_notice.rule.n | Number of days or hours in that deadline, when it has one. | integer | 11 of 51 filled; 5 to 72 |
quit_no_notice.rule.gap | For payday rules with a gap: the minimum days between the last day and the payday that counts. | integer | 2 of 51 filled; 3 to 6 |
quit_no_notice.text | The deadline when an employee quits without notice, in plain English. Present only for jurisdictions that have their own page on the site. | string (free text) | 15 of 51 filled |
quit_no_notice.wording | The official source's own words for that deadline. Present only for jurisdictions that have their own page on the site. | string (free text) | 15 of 51 filled |
notice_rule | How much notice counts as quitting "with notice", where the state sets it. | string (free text) | 4 of 51 filled |
vacation | Whether accrued vacation is paid out with final wages. Present only for jurisdictions that have their own page on the site. | string (free text) | 10 of 51 filled |
commissions | When commissions owed at separation must be paid. Present only for jurisdictions that have their own page on the site. | string (free text) | 11 of 51 filled |
method | How final wages may be delivered (mail, usual pay channel, on request). Present only for jurisdictions that have their own page on the site. | string (free text) | 12 of 51 filled |
penalty | Waiting-time or other penalty for late final pay. Present only for jurisdictions that have their own page on the site. | string (free text) | 14 of 51 filled |
notes | Other points from the official source. Present only for jurisdictions that have their own page on the site. | string (free text) | 13 of 51 filled |
unconfirmed | Fields the official sources read did not confirm for this row. Those values are null. | array of strings | 41 of 51 rows list at least one |
source_urls | Links to the official sources (all of them for jurisdictions with their own page; the main linked source for the others). | array of strings | 51 of 51 filled |
checked | When the row's sources were opened (YYYY-MM or YYYY-MM-DD). A row with no official source carries the date of the check that found none. | date (YYYY-MM-DD) | 51 of 51 filled |
page_url | The page on mcc-solutionsnj.com that explains this row. | string (URL) | 51 of 51 filled |
Preview: the first 10 rows
jurisdiction | fired.rule.kind | fired.rule.n | quit_notice.rule.kind | quit_no_notice.rule.kind | notice_rule | checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | none | null | none | none | null | 2026-11 |
| Alaska | working_days | 3 | payday_gap | payday_gap | null | 2026-11 |
| Arizona | working_days | 7 | next_payday | next_payday | null | 2026-11 |
| Arkansas | next_payday | null | null | null | null | 2026-11 |
| California | same_day | null | same_day | hours | At least 72 hours' notice | 2026-11 |
| Colorado | same_day | null | next_payday | next_payday | null | 2026-11 |
| Connecticut | working_days | 1 | next_payday | next_payday | null | 2026-11 |
| Delaware | next_payday | null | next_payday | next_payday | null | 2026-11 |
| District of Columbia | working_days | 1 | payday_or_days | payday_or_days | null | 2026-11 |
| Florida | null | null | null | null | null | 2026-11 |
7 of 28 columns shown, long text cut at 90 characters; the downloads have every column in full.
Download formats
The CSV has one row per jurisdiction and one column per field above, UTF-8, comma-separated. Nested fields use dotted names (fired.rule.kind); lists are joined with | , and lists of objects become key: value; key: value items. The JSON keeps types (numbers, true/false, null, arrays) and includes this dictionary, the license and the checked date.
License
License: free to copy, share and adapt, including commercially, under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.
Attribution required: credit "MCC Solutions" and link to this dataset page (https://mcc-solutionsnj.com/data/final-pay). The cite box below has text ready to paste.
Accuracy
Accuracy: every fact comes from an official government page as it read when checked (November 2026 for this release). Anything those pages did not confirm is null and named in the row's unconfirmed list; a null that is not on the list means the point does not apply or the source states none. This is general information, not legal or tax advice. We are not lawyers, and MCC Solutions is not a law firm.
Cite this data
Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0: credit MCC Solutions and link to https://mcc-solutionsnj.com/data/final-pay.
Changelog
- November 2026: sources checked for all 51 jurisdictions; this release has 28 fields, 358 confirmed values and 102 unconfirmed items.
- Downloads are generated from the data files on each request, so a corrected file shows up in the CSV and JSON straight away; a new entry is added here when the sources are checked again.