Final Paycheck Deadlines in Ohio
At a glance
| Governing law | Ohio's "Prompt Pay Act," R.C. 4113.15 (payment schedule, fringe-benefit trustee duty, and liquidated damages); R.C. 4113.99(A) (misdemeanor penalty); R.C. 4113.16 (anti-waiver) |
|---|---|
| Deadline if fired or laid off | No accelerated deadline: final wages are due on the same semimonthly schedule as an ordinary paycheck — by the 1st of the month for wages earned in the first half of the prior month, and by the 15th for wages earned in the second half (R.C. 4113.15(A)) |
| Deadline if the employee quits | Same as a discharge — R.C. 4113.15 sets one payment schedule for all employees and draws no distinction based on how or why the employment ended |
| Unused vacation/PTO payout required? | Agreed vacation, separation and holiday pay are fringe benefits; absent a dispute, the employer holds required funds in trust and must pay the appropriate recipient within 30 days after the earning pay period (§ 4113.15(C), (D)(2)) |
| How final pay must be delivered | An employee absent at payday and not paid through an authorized representative may demand payment at the usual pay place (§ 4113.15(A)) |
| Penalty for a late or unpaid final check | If wages remain unpaid 30 days beyond the regular payday (60 days beyond a claim or agreement date where no regular payday applies), and there's no good-faith contest or dispute, the employer owes liquidated damages equal to 6% of the still-unpaid, undisputed amount or $200, whichever is greater, on top of the wages themselves (R.C. 4113.15(B)). Violating R.C. 4113.15 is also a misdemeanor of the first degree (R.C. 4113.99(A)) |
| How to enforce it | The employer is liable to the employee for qualifying late wages and § 4113.15(B) liquidated damages; a § 4113.15 violation is also a first-degree misdemeanor (§ 4113.99(A)) |
| Exceptions and special rules | R.C. 4113.15(A) allows a longer payment interval that's customary to a given trade or profession, or a different interval set by written contract. R.C. 4113.16 bars an employer from using a special contract or other means to exempt itself from the underlying semimonthly-payment duty itself. A franchisor isn't treated as the "employer" of a franchisee's employees under the Act unless it agrees in writing to that role or a court finds it exercises atypical control over the franchisee (R.C. 4113.15(D)(4)) |
Requirements one by one
Wage-payment calendar
R.C. 4113.15(A) applies the same schedule to all employees. Wages earned September 1–15, for example, are due by October 1; wages earned September 16–30 are due by October 15. The section does not give a different payday when employment ends. It permits daily or weekly payment, a customary longer interval for a trade or profession, or a different interval set by written contract or law.
Agreed vacation and other fringe benefits
Under § 4113.15(D)(2), "fringe benefits" include vacation, separation and holiday pay. When the employer agreed to provide them and no contest or dispute applies, subsection (C) makes it a trustee of required funds. The provision addresses payment within 30 days after the close of the pay period in which the amount for the benefit was earned or deducted; the clock is tied to that pay period rather than to the departure date.
Late-payment consequences
Section 4113.15(B) measures liquidated damages after wages remain unpaid for 30 days past a regular payday. Where no regular payday applies, its alternative trigger is 60 days after the employee's claim or 60 days after the act making wages payable. For an unpaid, undisputed $1,000 claim, 6% is $60, so the $200 alternative controls. A contest, court order or dispute accounting for nonpayment changes the damages analysis. Section 4113.99(A) separately makes a violation a first-degree misdemeanor.
What trips people up
If an employee was absent at payday and was not paid through an authorized representative, § 4113.15(A) gives a right to demand payment afterward at the usual pay place. Section 4113.16 also prevents an employer from using a special contract or other means to exempt itself from the wage- payment sections, while § 4113.15(A) itself permits certain different payment intervals.
Section 4113.15(D)(4) generally excludes a franchisor from being the employer of a franchisee's workers, unless the franchisor agrees in writing or a court finds the specified degree of control.
HB 277 remains in House Commerce and Labor as of October 6, 2026. Its proposed § 4113.15(D)(6) would exclude certain platform-booked health care workers from this section's employee definition if the bill's conditions are met.
Common questions
Can my employer pay weekly? Yes. Section 4113.15(A) expressly permits daily or weekly wage payment.
What if my wages were never on a regular payday? Section 4113.15(B) uses a 60-day liquidated-damages trigger after a claim or other act making the wages payable, subject to its dispute language.
Statutes and sources
- R.C. 4113.15(A): semimonthly payment schedule — see quote above. — https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-4113.15 (accessed 2026-10-06)
- R.C. 4113.15(B): 30-day liquidated-damages trigger and formula — see quote above. — https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-4113.15 (accessed 2026-10-06)
- R.C. 4113.15(C), (D): fringe-benefit trustee duty, vacation-pay definition, and franchisor exclusion — see quote above. — https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-4113.15 (accessed 2026-10-06)
- R.C. 4113.99(A): first-degree-misdemeanor penalty — see quote above. — https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-4113.99 (accessed 2026-10-06)
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R.C. 4113.16: anti-waiver rule — see quote above. — https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-4113.16 (accessed 2026-10-06)
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Ohio HB 277 (2025–2026), proposed R.C. § 4113.15(D)(6): platform-booked health care worker definition — see proposed quote above. — https://search-prod.lis.state.oh.us/api/v2/general_assembly_136/legislation/hb277/00_IN/pdf/ (accessed 2026-10-06); status: https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/136/hb277/status (checked 2026-10-06)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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