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Louisiana Final Pay: Next Payday or 15 Days, Whichever Comes First
Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:631 sets a hard outer limit: final wages are due by the next scheduled payday or within 15 days of separation, whichever arrives first, for both a firing and a resignation. Earned, unused vacation counts as wages under company policy and cannot be forfeited, while commission and bonus timing follows its own written-policy rules.
Louisiana final paycheck rules at a glance
Nothing here is legal advice, and wage rules change. Verify before acting on a specific separation.
| Deadline when you fire someone | Next payday or within 15 days, whichever is sooner. |
|---|---|
| Deadline when someone quits | Next payday or within 15 days, whichever is sooner. |
| Governing statute | La. R.S. 23:631 |
| Accrued unused PTO | This state treats accrued, unused PTO as earned wages, so it generally must be paid out at separation. |
| PTO payout, by statute | Vacation pay is an amount then due only if, under the employer’s stated vacation policy, the employee is eligible for and has accrued the right to take paid vacation and has not taken or been compensated for it. The subsection bars reading it to allow forfeiture of vacation pay actually earned under the policy. [La. R.S. 23:631(D)] |
| Coverage after termination | Federal COBRA applies at 20 or more employees. Below that, Louisiana has its own continuation law, Louisiana Group Health Insurance Continuation, running up to 12 months. group health policies generally (not limited to sub-20 employers); applies where the person is NOT eligible for federal COBRA, so it functions as small-employer state continuation [La. Rev. Stat. section 22:1046 (Group health insurance continuation)] |
Louisiana sets no separate penalty for paying final wages late beyond the ordinary wage claim process.
WHAT MAKES LOUISIANA DIFFERENT
Section 23:631(E), as amended by Acts 2024 No. 556 and Acts 2025 No. 113, makes commission, incentive pay or bonus due only if earned and not modified under a written policy. It expressly allows a policy that a commission is not earned until the employer receives the customer payment, and gives up to one hundred twenty calendar days after the period ends to determine a periodic bonus. Section 23:631(A)(2) deems mailed payment made when mailed, proven by postmark.
Why commission and bonus pay do not follow the 15-day clock
Ordinary wages in Louisiana are simple: next payday or 15 days, whichever comes first. Commission, incentive pay, and bonus are carved out separately in 23:631(E), amended as recently as Acts 2024 No. 556 and Acts 2025 No. 113. That subsection only requires payment of an amount that was actually earned and not modified under a written policy, and it expressly lets an employer write a policy stating that a commission is not earned until the company itself receives the customer's payment. A periodic bonus gets even more room: up to 120 calendar days after the period ends before the employer has to determine the figure.
The practical effect is that a departing salesperson with an open deal and a departing hourly clerk are not on the same 15-day countdown. Treating every final check as a single deadline is how the commission half gets paid too early, against a policy that says it was not yet earned, or too late, once a written demand turns the underlying wages into a dispute.
Running the 15-day math on a real payroll cycle
Take an employee earning $900 a week on a biweekly payroll who is let go on a Tuesday. The next scheduled payday lands 19 days out, well past the point Louisiana allows. Because the statute caps the wait at 15 calendar days rather than deferring entirely to the payroll calendar, the employer has to cut an off-cycle check, not wait for the regular run. If that same employee has 32 hours of accrued, unused vacation at $22.50 an hour, the $720 balance has to ride in the same check, since 23:631(D) treats earned vacation as wages that a policy cannot claw back once accrued.
No dollar penalty formula for a missed deadline is republished on this page, because the source that carries it, R.S. 23:632, was not part of the citations verified for this rewrite. That gap is worth flagging rather than papering over: a company assuming Louisiana has no teeth behind the 15-day rule should confirm current exposure with the Louisiana Workforce Commission before treating the deadline as a soft target.
What counts as earned vacation, and what a policy cannot do
Louisiana does not mandate that employers offer vacation at all, but once a policy grants it, 23:631(D) treats the earned, unused portion as wages payable at separation, and 23:631(D)(2) is explicit that the statute cannot be read to allow forfeiture of vacation actually earned under that policy. A handbook clause that tries to zero out an accrued balance on termination is not enforceable once the time has accrued under the policy's own terms. The live question in a Louisiana separation is never whether termination wipes the balance out; it is only whether the policy's own eligibility and accrual terms were met before the last day worked.
Health coverage after the separation
Federal COBRA reaches group health plans at employers with 20 or more employees. Louisiana does not leave smaller employers without an answer: the Louisiana Group Health Insurance Continuation law, La. Rev. Stat. 22:1046, applies specifically to a person who is not eligible for federal COBRA, which is a broader test than a flat headcount cutoff, and keeps coverage available for up to 12 months for anyone who was continuously insured for the 3 months before termination.
Confirming eligibility starts with the federal test, not an assumption about company size. A Louisiana employer that sits right at the 20-employee line should check plan enrollment at the moment of separation rather than relying on last year's headcount.
The pieces of an offboarding that do not change state to state, documentation, the exit checklist, and federal WARN Act thresholds for larger layoffs, are covered once in the termination process guide. This page stays limited to what is specific to Louisiana. For how HR outsourcing applies this in practice, see the Louisiana HR outsourcing page.
Frequently Asked Questions
When exactly does a Louisiana final paycheck become late?
The moment both the next scheduled payday and the 15th calendar day after separation have passed, whichever of those two dates arrived first. La. R.S. 23:631 applies the same math to a firing and a resignation, so there is no separate, longer clock for someone who quit.
What happens if a Louisiana employer misses the 15-day mark?
The penalty sits in a companion section, R.S. 23:632, that was not part of the primary-source citations behind this page, so no dollar formula is republished here. Treat a missed deadline as real wage-claim exposure and confirm current penalty amounts with the Louisiana Workforce Commission or counsel rather than guessing.
Is accrued vacation payout mandatory in Louisiana?
Yes, once it is earned. Under 23:631(D), vacation pay is due if the employer’s stated policy makes the employee eligible and the time has accrued and gone unused. Subsection (D)(2) specifically forbids reading the law to allow forfeiture of vacation that was actually earned under that policy.
How does Louisiana treat commission and bonus pay at termination?
Differently from ordinary wages. Section 23:631(E) only requires payment of commission, incentive pay, or bonus that was earned and not modified under a written policy, a policy can lawfully say a commission is not earned until the employer receives the customer’s payment, and a periodic bonus gets up to 120 calendar days after the period ends before it has to be determined.
Can a departing employee be paid by mail in Louisiana?
Yes. Section 23:631(A)(2) deems a mailed payment made on the date it was mailed, proven by postmark, which matters for an employer settling a final check from an out-of-state payroll office.
What is the statute that governs Louisiana final pay?
La. R.S. 23:631, available through the Louisiana Legislature’s published revised statutes. It sets the 15-day-or-next-payday timing and the vacation and commission carve-outs covered on this page.
Does Louisiana require continued health coverage after termination?
Federal COBRA applies at 20 or more employees. Below that line, the Louisiana Group Health Insurance Continuation law, La. Rev. Stat. 22:1046, steps in specifically for people not eligible for federal COBRA and keeps group coverage available for up to 12 months for anyone insured for the 3 months before separation.
What if the next scheduled payday falls more than 15 days out?
The 15-day cap wins. Louisiana does not let a long pay cycle stretch final wages further out than 15 calendar days from the last day worked, so a biweekly or semi-monthly payroll sometimes has to cut an off-cycle check to stay compliant.
How does BEG support a Louisiana termination?
Certified HR professionals confirm which of the two Louisiana clocks applies, separate earned commission from commission that is not yet due under the written plan, and coordinate with isolved-powered payroll so the vacation balance goes out with the rest of the check rather than getting missed.
Fifteen Days Is the Outer Limit, Not the Target.
Certified HR professionals track which of Louisiana's two clocks applies, sort earned commission from commission that is not yet due, and keep the vacation balance from getting missed, at a cost well under a full-time in-house HR hire.
Anthony leads HR outsourcing strategy at Business Executive Group. His team pairs certified HR professionals with isolved payroll so a Louisiana separation never drifts past the 15-day mark, and so a commission that has not yet been earned under the written policy does not get paid out by mistake either.
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