Final Paycheck Deadlines in Connecticut

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Deadline if fired or laid off

Section 31-71c draws a sharp distinction: an ordinary discharge is payable by the next business day, while a layoff or labor-dispute suspension is payable by the next regular payday. For a Monday discharge with Tuesday a business day, the discharge deadline is Tuesday; a Monday layoff follows the regular payday.

Unused vacation/PTO payout required?

Section 31-76k makes the employer's policy or collective bargaining agreement the trigger. If it promises payout of accrued fringe benefits at termination, the employee must receive the accrued amount at no less than the earned average rate for the accrual period.

Penalty for a late or unpaid final check

Section 31-72 gives a successful employee twice the unpaid wages plus costs and reasonable attorney fees. If the employer establishes a good-faith belief that the underpayment complied with law, recovery instead is the unpaid amount plus costs and reasonable fees. That defense does not move the § 31-71c deadline.

Exceptions and special rules

A dispute over the total amount does not postpone the undisputed part: § 31-71d(a) requires the employer to pay wages it concedes are due, without condition and on time.

What trips people up

The current double-damages framework remains in force. The 2026 act says: “Sec. 56. Section 31-72 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective January 1, 2027):” Public Act 26-12 § 56 adds a route for an employee whose subcontractor fails to pay wages for work under a construction contract entered on or after that date to sue the contractor as well. When the contractor is sued, the act generally calls for notice at least 30 days before the action. This future rule addresses who can be sued; it does not replace the ordinary separation-pay clocks in § 31-71c.

Common questions

Can earned commissions count as wages? Section 31-71a(3) includes compensation calculated on a “commission or other basis of calculation” in its wage definition. Whether a particular commission was earned remains a separate calculation question.

Can an employment agreement set a later payment date? Section 31-72 says an employee-employer agreement for payment on terms other than those in the wage-payment sections is no defense to the employee's civil action.

Statutes and sources

Current Connecticut General Statutes Chapter 558 accessed October 6, 2026:

• § 31-71a(3): “Wages” means compensation for labor or services rendered by an employee, “whether the amount is determined on a time, task, piece, commission or other basis of calculation”.
• § 31-71c(a)-(c): “Whenever an employer discharges an employee, the employer shall pay the employee's wages in full not later than the business day next succeeding the date of such discharge.” Its adjacent subsections place quits and layoffs on the next regular payday.
• § 31-71d(a): “In case of a dispute over the amount of wages, the employer shall pay, without condition and within the time set by sections 31-71a to 31-71i, inclusive, all wages, or parts thereof, conceded by him to be due”.
• § 31-72: The employee may recover “twice the full amount of such wages, with costs and such reasonable attorney's fees as may be allowed by the court” unless the employer establishes the statutory good-faith belief.
• § 31-76k: “If an employer policy or collective bargaining agreement provides for the payment of accrued fringe benefits upon termination” the employee “shall be compensated for such accrued fringe benefits”.

2026 Public Act 26-12 §§ 55–56, accessed October 6, 2026, states that the § 31-72 amendment is “Effective January 1, 2027” and allows a covered employee to bring an action against “either the subcontractor, the contractor or both the subcontractor and contractor”.