Employment · Final Paycheck
Final Paycheck Laws in Connecticut
When your last paycheck is due after you leave a job in Connecticut: the deadline if you were fired, the deadline if you quit, and what happens if the check is late.
Prefer a quick check? Enter your last day worked in the Connecticut final paycheck checker →
Same deadline in Connecticut whether you quit or were fired.
Fired vs. quit — when the check is due
The two deadlines side by side. In most states they match; in a few they don’t.
By the business day next succeeding the discharge. If you are fired, Conn. Gen. Stat. §31-71c requires your full wages no later than the next business day after your last day.
On the next regular payday. If you quit, Conn. Gen. Stat. §31-71c requires your full wages no later than your next scheduled payday. The same next-payday rule applies to a layoff.
In Connecticut, quitting and being fired share the same deadline, one of the 11 of 15 states where they match. Only California, Texas, Arizona, and Massachusetts set a genuinely different clock for the two.
If your final pay is late
The California waiting-time penalty is one of a kind; every other state uses a different remedy.
Note: this is a damages or civil-penalty remedy, not a California-style per-day waiting-time penalty. Only California’s §203 lets your daily wage keep running as a penalty until you are paid.
The full rule, with the statute
Every deadline and remedy, and how Connecticut sets each.
| Situation | Deadline in Connecticut | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| If you were fired | Next business day | By the business day next succeeding the discharge. If you are fired, Conn. Gen. Stat. §31-71c requires your full wages no later than the next business day after your last day. |
| If you quit | Next payday | On the next regular payday. If you quit, Conn. Gen. Stat. §31-71c requires your full wages no later than your next scheduled payday. The same next-payday rule applies to a layoff. |
| Notice matters? | No | Giving notice does not change the deadline in this state. |
| Waiting-time penalty | None | No per-day continuing-wage penalty. That remedy exists only in California under §203. |
| Other late-pay remedy | Double damages plus fees | Under Conn. Gen. Stat. §31-72, an employee can bring a civil action to recover twice the full amount of the unpaid wages, along with costs and reasonable attorney fees. The employer can cut this to single damages only by proving it had a good-faith belief that the underpayment complied with the law. The Labor Commissioner can also collect the unpaid wages with interest and sue for double damages on your behalf. |
Deadlines here cover earned wages. Whether unused vacation or PTO must be included in a final check is a separate question that varies by state and by the employer’s written policy.
What Connecticut workers get wrong
Connecticut splits its final-pay deadline sharply by how the job ended, and the fired side is one of the fastest in the nation. Under Conn. Gen. Stat. §31-71c, if your employer discharges you, your full wages are due no later than the business day next succeeding the discharge, meaning the very next business day after your last day. If you quit or are laid off, the deadline is your next regular payday instead. The teeth are in Conn. Gen. Stat. §31-72: an employee can sue to recover twice the full amount of the unpaid wages, plus costs and reasonable attorney fees. An employer escapes the double-damages half only by showing a good-faith belief that it complied with the law, a defense Connecticut courts read narrowly. The state Labor Commissioner can also pursue the wages and double damages on your behalf.
Common questions
When is my final paycheck due in Connecticut if I was fired?
By the business day next succeeding your discharge. Under Conn. Gen. Stat. §31-71c, a fired employee must be paid in full no later than the next business day after the last day of work. If you are let go on a Friday, payment is due the following Monday.
When is my final paycheck due in Connecticut if I quit?
On your next regular payday. Conn. Gen. Stat. §31-71c gives employers until the next scheduled payday to pay a worker who quits voluntarily. Giving notice does not change the timing.
What can I recover if my Connecticut employer pays late?
Under Conn. Gen. Stat. §31-72 you can sue for twice the full amount of the unpaid wages, plus costs and reasonable attorney fees. The employer can reduce this to single damages only by proving a good-faith belief that it complied with the law.
Does the timing change if I am laid off in Connecticut?
A layoff follows the next-payday rule, the same as quitting. Conn. Gen. Stat. §31-71c treats both a voluntary quit and a layoff as due on the next regular payday, while a discharge is due the next business day.
Where do I file an unpaid wage complaint in Connecticut?
You can file with the Connecticut Department of Labor, Wage and Workplace Standards Division, which enforces the wage-payment statutes. You can also bring a civil action directly under Conn. Gen. Stat. §31-72.
Not legal advicePlainStatute provides plain-language summaries of public law for general information only. This is not legal advice. Statutes change; always confirm current requirements with the official source linked above before acting.