When does an Oklahoma employer have to pay a terminated employee his final paycheck?

Amtrak employee checks with the station at the Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal, May 1974

Your employment is over, terminated or quit, and now one of the questions on most people’s minds is: When do I get my final paycheck?

Under Oklahoma law, regardless of the reason for termination, an employer is required to pay the employee’s final wages in full, less any legal authorized offsets, at the next regular designated payday established for the pay period in which the work was performed either through the regular pay channels or by certified mail postmarked within the deadlines specified by law if requested by the employee.

There are substantial penalties for failing to pay wages even if you [the employer] believe you have a stellar reason for non-payment.  There are a few circumstances where a “bonafide disagreement” over what is due could relieve an employer from being penalized for failure to pay.

If you [the employer] think you have one of those rare, limited circumstances, consult an attorney.

Posted by Shawn Roberts

On this blog, I write about and try to answer practical Oklahoma legal questions. My focus and most experience is in estate planning and business issues including Oklahoma non-compete law. I make a living as an attorney in the law firm I founded, Shawn J. Roberts, P.C. in Oklahoma City. I live in Edmond with my wife Amy and my two children, Sam (19) and David (11). We live precisely in the path of where the "wind comes sweeping down the plains."