How Long Does an Employer Have to Pay You in Missouri?

In Missouri, how long an employer has to pay you depends on how the job ended. If you were fired, discharged, or laid off, all unpaid wages are due the same day your employment ends. If you quit voluntarily, your employer has until the next regular payday to pay you. Miss the deadline after an involuntary termination and the employer can owe you an additional 60 days of wages as a penalty.¹

Same-Day Pay After a Firing or Layoff

Missouri Revised Statutes Section 290.110 requires that when an employer discharges or refuses to further employ someone, all wages earned at the contract rate become due and payable on the day of separation. That applies whether you were fired for cause, let go without cause, or laid off.¹

If you don’t get paid on the spot, the statute lays out what to do. Send a written request to your supervisor or timekeeper asking that the money, or a valid check, be sent to a company office where a regular agent works. Your employer then has seven days from that request to deliver payment. Send the letter by certified mail with return receipt so you have proof of the date the clock started.²

If You Quit, the Deadline Is the Next Payday

The same-day rule does not cover voluntary resignations. Missouri has no specific deadline for final pay after you quit. Your former employer must pay you by the next regular payday. If that payday passes without payment, you can pursue the wages through legal action.³

The practical consequence: quitting costs you the same-day rule and the 60-day penalty provision that pushes employers to pay quickly. Before your last day, confirm when the next regular payday falls and keep records of your final hours.

The 60-Day Penalty for Late Payment

If your employer misses the seven-day window after your written request, your wages keep accruing at your regular rate from the date of termination until you’re actually paid. That accrual is capped at 60 days.¹

The math adds up quickly. Someone earning $20 an hour on a 40-hour schedule whose employer waited two months to pay could be owed roughly $9,600 in penalty wages on top of the final paycheck itself.

Commission Employees Are Treated Differently

The same-day rule and the 60-day penalty do not apply to employees whose pay is primarily commission-based and whose duties include tasks like collecting accounts or managing inventory, where an audit is needed to figure the final amount owed. If that describes your job, your employer has more flexibility on timing but still owes you everything you earned.¹

What Has to Be in Your Final Check

Your final paycheck must cover all wages you earned through your last day, at the agreed rate, including any overtime worked during the final pay period.

Vacation, PTO, and Severance

Missouri does not require employers to pay out unused vacation, sick leave, or PTO. Those are treated as discretionary benefits. But if a written policy, handbook provision, or employment contract promises a payout at separation, the promise is enforceable, and you can pursue that money in court if the employer refuses to follow its own policy.⁴

Severance works the same way. Nothing in Missouri law entitles you to it, but a written agreement or established company policy can create the obligation.

What Can and Can’t Be Deducted

Your employer can withhold the usual items: federal and state income taxes, Social Security and Medicare, court-ordered garnishments, and anything you’ve authorized in writing. They cannot deduct for damaged equipment, uniform cleaning, or cash register shortages unless you signed a written agreement specifically allowing those deductions.

If Your Employer Doesn’t Pay on Time

The Missouri Department of Labor does not have the authority to collect wages for you. Its own FAQ is blunt on that point. If your employer won’t pay, the remedy is yours to pursue.²

The department does accept a complaint form for underpayment or withheld final paychecks, and sometimes the department reaching out to the employer is enough to resolve things. When it isn’t, your real option is court.

Small Claims or Circuit Court

If you’re owed $5,000 or less, small claims court is the practical route. You don’t need a lawyer, filing fees are modest, and the process moves faster than circuit court. Claims above $5,000, which can happen quickly once the 60-day penalty is added in, belong in circuit court, where hiring an attorney becomes more advisable.²

Documents to Gather

The employer’s full legal name, physical address, and contact information
Your start date and exact last day of work
Recent pay stubs, your hourly rate or salary, and any written compensation agreements
A copy of the certified letter requesting final wages, with the return receipt
The relevant handbook section if you’re claiming a vacation or PTO payout

The certified mail receipt carries more weight than people expect. It fixes the date your seven-day clock started, and that date is the basis for calculating penalty wages.

You Have Three Years to File

Missouri gives you three years from the date wages were due to file a legal claim for unpaid wages. After that, the claim is time-barred no matter how strong it looks.⁵

Three years sounds generous, but the strongest cases are filed early. Managers move on, memories blur, and federal law only requires payroll records to be kept for three years.⁶

1
Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code Title XVIII Chapter 290 – Section 290.110
2
Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. If an Employee Is Terminated When Are His or Her Final Wages Due
3
Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. If an Employee Quits His Job When Are the Final Wages Due to Him
4
Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. Is My Employer Required to Pay Me for Unused Vacation if I Lose My Job or Quit
5
Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code Title XVIII Chapter 290 – Section 290.527
6
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet #21 Recordkeeping Requirements Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)