Texas Final Paycheck Deadline: When Your Last Pay Is Due

The Texas Payday Law sets when a final paycheck is due after a job ends, and the deadline turns on whether the worker was discharged or left voluntarily. This is one of the wage-and-hour rules covered in Texas employment law: at-will rules, pay, and worker rights. This article explains the two statutory deadlines, what a final paycheck has to include, when an employer can deduct from it, and how to file a wage claim if the check is late or short.

When the final paycheck is due

Texas ties the deadline to the reason the employment ended. Texas Labor Code § 61.014 draws a line between an involuntary discharge and a voluntary departure.

An employer must pay a discharged employee in full no later than the sixth day after the date the employee is discharged. This covers a layoff, a firing, or any other separation the employer initiates. Under Texas Labor Code § 61.001, a “day” means a calendar day, so weekends and holidays count toward the six-day window.

An employee who leaves for any reason other than discharge, by quitting, resigning, or retiring, must be paid in full no later than the next regularly scheduled payday. The Texas Workforce Commission applies the same distinction in its Texas Payday Law guidance.

If an employer has not designated regular paydays, Texas Labor Code § 61.012 sets them as the first and 15th of each month. That default payday determines the deadline for a worker who quits when no other payday schedule was posted.

What a Texas final paycheck must include

Final pay is more than the last period’s hourly or salary wages. Texas Labor Code § 61.001 defines “wages” to include vacation pay, holiday pay, sick leave pay, parental leave pay, and severance pay when they are owed to the employee under a written agreement or a written policy of the employer. The same six-day or next-payday deadline applies to those amounts.

Texas does not require an employer to pay out unused vacation or PTO on its own. That obligation exists only when a written policy or agreement creates it. For how accrued leave is handled at separation, see whether Texas requires PTO payout at termination.

Commissions and bonuses are due according to the terms of the agreement between the worker and the employer, under Texas Labor Code § 61.015. If the agreement provides for paying a commission after separation, the deadline follows the wording of the agreement rather than the six-day rule.

The commission’s guidance is direct on one point: it is not legal to hold a final paycheck past the deadline for reasons such as failure to return company property or failure to sign a timesheet. When the employer knows or should know what the pay is, the Final Pay guidance states the check is still due by the deadline.

When an employer can deduct from final pay

An employer’s ability to take money out of a final paycheck is narrow. Texas Labor Code § 61.018 allows an employer to withhold or divert part of an employee’s wages only in three situations: when a court orders it, when state or federal law authorizes it, or when the employee has given written authorization to deduct the amount for a lawful purpose.

A deduction for unreturned equipment, a cash-register shortage, or damaged property is lawful only when one of those three conditions is met. Without a court order, a specific law, or the worker’s written consent, the amount stays part of the wages the employer owes.

How to file a wage claim with the TWC

A worker who is not paid on time, or is paid less than what is owed, can file a wage claim with the Texas Workforce Commission. The claim asks the agency to investigate and order payment.

1. File within 180 days

   Under Texas Labor Code § 61.051, a wage claim must be filed no later than the 180th day after the date the unpaid wages became due. The statute states the 180-day deadline is a matter of jurisdiction, which means a claim filed late is dismissed and cannot be heard.

2. Use the commission's form and verify it

   The claim must be filed on the form the commission prescribes and must be verified by the employee, meaning the worker signs it as true. A claim can be submitted in person, by mail, by fax, or electronically through the methods the commission designates.

3. Wait for the preliminary determination

   A commission examiner reviews the claim and issues a preliminary wage determination order, either dismissing the claim or ordering the employer to pay the wages found due, under Texas Labor Code § 61.052.

4. Request a hearing if either side disagrees

   Either party can appeal the preliminary order by requesting a hearing before a wage claim appeal tribunal. Under Texas Labor Code § 61.054, the written request must be made no later than the 21st day after the commission mails the preliminary order.

Penalties when an employer pays late

The Payday Law gives the commission tools beyond ordering the unpaid wages. If an examiner or the commission finds that an employer acted in bad faith in not paying wages, Texas Labor Code § 61.053 allows an administrative penalty against the employer. The penalty may not exceed the lesser of the wages in question or $1,000. The same section allows a penalty against a worker who is found to have brought a claim in bad faith.

Separately, Texas Labor Code § 61.019 makes it a third-degree felony for an employer to hire a worker intending to avoid paying wages, or to keep a worker on while intending to avoid payment, and then to fail to pay after a demand. Criminal cases are rare compared with wage claims, but the provision shows the deadline is a legal duty, not a courtesy.

Government employers and other special situations

The Payday Law does not reach every employer. Under Texas Labor Code § 61.003, the chapter does not apply to the United States, the State of Texas, or a political subdivision of the state, so a public-sector worker’s final pay follows that entity’s own rules rather than the six-day deadline.

Most private-sector jobs in the state are at-will, which shapes how a separation happens in the first place. For the background rule, see at-will employment in Texas and what limits it. A worker separated through a layoff or discharge often turns next to unemployment benefits; the process is covered in how to apply for unemployment benefits in Texas.