Oregon: Final Paycheck Deadlines
The short answer
Oregon requires payment by the end of the next business day after a discharge (ORS 652.140(1)). A quit is different: pay is due immediately if the employee gave at least 48 hours' notice, or otherwise within 5 days or the next regular payday, whichever comes first. Oregon has no independent statutory right to vacation payout: it's owed only if the employer's own policy promises it, and a 2026 bill that would have created a real statutory floor died in committee. A willful violation triggers a penalty wage of 8 hours' pay per day for up to 30 days, though a written nonpayment notice from the employee can cap that penalty at 100% of the unpaid wages unless the employer still doesn't pay within 12 days. Enforcement runs through a BOLI wage claim or a private lawsuit, with mandatory attorney's fees for the employee in most cases.
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This is the general rule in Oregon. Ezel applies current Oregon law to your specific facts and answers with citations to the statutes.
| Governing law | ORS 652.140 sets the deadline; § 652.150 sets the penalty wage; § 652.200 provides mandatory attorney's fees in a wage-collection lawsuit |
|---|---|
| Deadline if fired or laid off | By the end of the first business day after a discharge or a termination by mutual agreement (§ 652.140(1)) |
| Deadline if the employee quits | Immediately, on the last day, if the employee gave at least 48 hours' advance notice of quitting (excluding weekends/holidays); otherwise within 5 days (excluding weekends/holidays) or the next regular payday, whichever occurs FIRST: with a special estimate-then-true-up rule for employees on time-record-based pay (§ 652.140(2)) |
| Unused vacation/PTO payout required? | No independent statutory floor: vacation/PTO is owed at separation only if the employer's own policy or agreement provides for it; a 2026 bill (HB 4094) that would have created a real statutory payout floor died in committee this session, confirming the gap remains |
| How final pay must be delivered | Employer must mail final wages to any address the employee designates on request, or may deposit them by direct deposit if the employee has agreed to it (§ 652.140(4)); if the separation itself falls on a weekend or holiday, payment is due by the end of the first business day after that (§ 652.140(3)) |
| Penalty for a late or unpaid final check | For a willful violation, a continuing penalty wage of 8 hours' pay per day (at the employee's regular hourly rate) until paid or suit is filed, capped at 30 days (§ 652.150(1)); if the employee gives written notice of nonpayment, the penalty is instead capped at 100% of the unpaid wages unless the employer still hasn't paid in full within 12 days of that notice, in which case the uncapped 30-day penalty applies (§ 652.150(2)); the employer can avoid the penalty entirely by showing financial inability to pay when wages accrued (§ 652.150(5)) |
| How to enforce it | A wage claim filed with the Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) or a private civil lawsuit; a court must award the employee reasonable attorney's fees if wages remain unpaid more than 48 hours after becoming due, unless the employee willfully violated the employment contract or the employee's attorney unreasonably skipped giving the employer written notice before suing (§ 652.200(2)) |
| Exceptions and special rules | Seasonal farmworkers get an even faster default (wages due immediately on separation), with a narrow noon-the-next-day exception limited to end-of-harvest-season layoffs where the employer is a qualifying farmworker-camp operator providing free compliant housing until paid (§ 652.145); a business sale can carry over accrued leave to the new employer without triggering an immediate payout if the purchaser credits the same leave at an equal or better rate (§ 652.140(6)); motor-vehicle and farm-implement sales commissions follow their own due-date and reduced-penalty rules when the disputed amount is small (§ 652.150(3)) |
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Requirements one by one
Governing law
ORS 652.140 sets Oregon's final-wage deadlines. § 652.150 sets the
penalty for a willful violation. § 652.200 makes attorney's fees
mandatory for the employee in most wage-collection lawsuits.
Deadline if fired or laid off
By the end of the first business day after the discharge or a mutually
agreed termination. If you're fired on a Friday, the check is due by the
end of the day Monday.
Deadline if the employee quits
This depends entirely on notice. Give your employer at least 48 hours'
advance notice (not counting weekends or holidays) of your intent to
quit, and all earned wages are due immediately on your last day. Without
that notice, the employer has until 5 business days after you quit or
the next regular payday, whichever comes first. If your pay depends on
submitting time records, the employer instead pays an estimate within 5
days, then true-up wages within 5 days after you turn in your records.
Unused vacation/PTO payout required?
No, not on its own. Oregon law creates no independent right to vacation
or PTO payout at separation, it's owed only if the employer's own
written policy or agreement promises it. A 2026 bill that would have
required employers with a vacation policy to pay it out on the same
schedule as final wages died in committee before the session ended, so
this remains a real gap in Oregon law as of today.
How final pay must be delivered
On request, the employer must mail the final paycheck to any address the
employee designates. Direct deposit is allowed if the employee has
agreed to it. If the separation itself falls on a weekend or holiday,
the deadline shifts to the end of the first business day after that (a
second business day for certain state or county fair-related
employment).
Penalty for a late or unpaid final check
A willful violation triggers a penalty wage, 8 hours' pay per day at
the employee's regular hourly rate, running until paid or until a
lawsuit is filed, capped at 30 days. If the employee sends the employer
written notice of the nonpayment, that penalty is instead capped at 100%
of the unpaid wages, unless the employer still hasn't paid in full within
12 days of that notice, in which case the full uncapped 30-day penalty
kicks back in. An employer can avoid the penalty entirely by showing it
genuinely couldn't afford to pay when the wages accrued.
How to enforce it
An employee can file a wage claim with the Bureau of Labor and Industries
(BOLI) or bring a private lawsuit. Courts must award the employee
reasonable attorney's fees if the wages stayed unpaid more than 48 hours
past their due date, unless the employee willfully broke the employment
contract or their attorney skipped giving the employer written notice of
the claim before suing.
Exceptions and special rules
Seasonal farmworkers get an even faster default: wages due immediately
upon separation, with a narrow next-day-by-noon exception limited to
layoffs at the end of harvest season by a qualifying farmworker-camp
operator that keeps providing free, compliant housing until the wages
are paid. When a business is sold, the new owner can carry over an
employee's accrued leave instead of paying it out immediately, as long as
the new owner credits the same leave and honors it at an equal or better
rate. Motor-vehicle and farm-implement sales commissions follow their own
due-date and reduced-penalty rules when a dispute involves a small
percentage of the claimed amount.
What trips people up
People sometimes assume Oregon's fast next-business-day discharge
deadline also applies to a quit, it doesn't, and the quit deadline can
run anywhere from immediate to several days depending on how much notice
was given. It's also easy to miss that the harsh 8-hours-a-day penalty
isn't unconditional: sending a written nonpayment notice actually caps
the employer's exposure at 100% of the unpaid wages in most cases, rather
than letting it run.
Common questions
How fast do I get my final paycheck if I'm fired in Oregon?
By the end of the next business day.
Does giving notice before I quit get me paid faster?
Yes. At least 48 hours' notice means you're paid immediately on your
last day; less notice (or none) means the employer has until 5 business
days after you quit or the next regular payday, whichever comes first.
Do I get paid for unused vacation when I leave?
Only if your employer's own policy or agreement promises it. Oregon law
doesn't create that right on its own, and a 2026 bill to change that
died in committee.
Statutes and sources
- ORS 652.140(1)-(4): the discharge and quit deadlines, weekend/holiday
extension, and delivery rules — see quotes above. —
https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors652.html (accessed
2026-07-06) - ORS 652.140(6): the business-sale leave-carryover exception — see quote
above. —
https://law.justia.com/codes/oregon/volume-16/chapter-652/section-652-140/
(accessed 2026-07-06) - ORS 652.145: the seasonal-farmworker special rule — see quote above. —
https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors652.html (accessed
2026-07-06) - ORS 652.150(1)-(2), (5): the penalty-wage formula, written-notice cap,
and financial-inability defense — see quotes above. —
https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors652.html (accessed
2026-07-06) - ORS 652.200(2): the mandatory attorney's-fees rule in a wage-collection
lawsuit — see quote above. —
https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors652.html (accessed
2026-07-06)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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