Getting Paid
Wage Payment Law 5 — the last check on the next payday, and 25 percent more if it is late
In Pennsylvania, an employer pays wages on regular paydays designated in advance. Wages earned in a pay period are due within the time a written contract sets, or the customary time in the trade, or otherwise within 15 days from the end of the pay period.
Final wages are due by the next regular payday. When an employer separates an employee from the payroll, or the employee quits or resigns, the wages earned are due not later than the next regular payday on which they would otherwise have been paid, and by certified mail if the employee asks.
Where wages stay unpaid for thirty days past the regular payday, and there is no good faith dispute, the employee may also claim liquidated damages of twenty five percent of the wages due, or $500, whichever is greater.
An employee may sue for unpaid wages and liquidated damages, or report the claim to the Secretary of Labor and Industry, and a court awarding judgment also awards reasonable attorney's fees against the employer. A claim is brought within three years after the wages were due.
An employer notified of a claim by the Secretary who neither pays nor explains within ten days may owe a penalty of ten percent of what is found due. A good faith dispute is a satisfactory explanation.
Sources for this section (4)
- Wage Payment Law 5 — Employes separated from the payroll before paydays
- Wage Payment Law 10 — Liquidated damages
- Wage Payment Law 3 — Regularity of payment of wages
- Wage Payment Law 9.1 — Civil remedies and penalties
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Pennsylvania attorney.