General information, not an assessment of any person's case.
Reading scope: Illinois; federal final-pay baseline
Sources read 2026-10-25. A retrieval date is not a certification that the law remains unchanged.
What the law generally says
For work covered by the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act, an employer must pay a separated employee's final compensation in full at separation if possible, and no later than the employee's next regularly scheduled payday. A written request for final compensation by mailed check must be honored. Read 820 ILCS 115/5.
Illinois calls this payment final compensation. It can include wages, salary, earned commissions, earned bonuses, the monetary value of earned vacation and holidays, and other compensation owed under an employment contract or agreement. That does not make every bonus, severance benefit, or other payment automatic; whether it was earned or promised can matter. Read 820 ILCS 115/2 Read IDOL's wage-payment FAQ.
This Illinois rule does not cover every job. IDOL says the work must be performed in Illinois for a claim under this Act; state and federal employees are excluded. Whether someone is an employee rather than a bona fide independent contractor can require a fact-based review. A valid collective-bargaining agreement and its grievance process can also matter. Read IDOL's coverage and union guidance.
The federal baseline is different: the U.S. Department of Labor says federal law does not require an employer to give a former employee a final paycheck immediately. State law may set a different timing rule. This page does not decide whether another state's law, local rule, agreement, or collective-bargaining agreement applies. Read the U.S. Department of Labor's final-paycheck guidance.
Signs this may be happening
A final-pay question may be worth a closer look when the next regularly scheduled payday has passed after the job ended and final compensation has not arrived. Read the Illinois timing rule.
Another sign is that the last payment appears to leave out pay described in an agreement, such as earned wages, salary, commissions, bonuses, or the value of earned vacation. The words earned and agreement matter under the Act. Read the statutory definition.
If an employment contract or policy provides paid vacation, Illinois law says earned, unused vacation is part of final compensation at the final rate of pay when employment ends, unless a collective-bargaining agreement provides otherwise. These facts do not by themselves establish what is owed or which rule covers a particular job. Read the vacation-pay provision.
What to gather
Keep a simple timeline showing the last day worked, the date employment ended, the last pay period, and the next regularly scheduled payday. Keep a copy of the final check or direct-deposit record, pay stubs, and any written pay policy or agreement you already have or can lawfully obtain.
IDOL lists copies of paychecks, pay stubs, W-2s, 1099s, or other documents showing the employer's name and the worker's rate of pay as records for wage claims. For a vacation, bonus, or commission question, IDOL also identifies the related policy or agreement as useful documentation. Read IDOL's document guidance.
Do not remove, copy, or send employer material that you are not authorized to use. A record list can help organize questions, but it does not determine what is owed.
Deadlines
For an Illinois Department of Labor wage claim under this Act, the statute says a complaint must be filed within one year after wages, final compensation, or wage supplements were due. That is an administrative-complaint deadline; it is not a statement of every possible deadline. Read 820 ILCS 115/11.
The same section says an aggrieved employee may file suit in Illinois circuit court without first exhausting alternative administrative remedies. This draft does not state or calculate a court-filing deadline, and it does not decide which route is available or appropriate in an individual situation. Read the statutory court-route text.
IDOL says its wage-claim process reviews completeness, timeliness, and jurisdiction. Its filing guidance identifies the same one-year period for wages or final compensation due. Read IDOL's filing guidance.
Sources and dates
Publisher and place: Illinois General Assembly · Illinois.
Read: 2026-10-25.
Displayed date or version: 820 ILCS 115/2; Source: P.A. 103-953, eff. 1-1-25.
Source limits: Illinois General Assembly warns that its ILCS database is updated on an ongoing basis and may show statutory changes before their effective date; this statutory page was read on the recorded date.
Publisher and place: Illinois General Assembly · Illinois.
Read: 2026-10-25.
Displayed date or version: 820 ILCS 115/5; Source: P.A. 83-199.
Source limits: Illinois General Assembly warns that its ILCS database is updated on an ongoing basis and may show statutory changes before their effective date; this statutory page was read on the recorded date.
Publisher and place: Illinois General Assembly · Illinois.
Read: 2026-10-25.
Displayed date or version: 820 ILCS 115/11; Source: P.A. 103-201, eff. 1-1-24; 104-135, eff. 8-1-25.
Source limits: Illinois General Assembly warns that its ILCS database is updated on an ongoing basis and may show statutory changes before their effective date; this statutory page was read on the recorded date. The page does not supply a civil lawsuit limitations period.
Publisher and place: Illinois Department of Labor · Illinois.
Read: 2026-10-25.
Displayed date or version: No displayed date or version in extracted page.
Source limits: IDOL states that the FAQ is not a substitute for statutes or administrative rules, is not complete, and gives no individual legal advice. The extracted page showed no publication date or version.
Publisher and place: Illinois Department of Labor · Illinois.
Read: 2026-10-25.
Displayed date or version: No displayed date or version in extracted page.
Source limits: IDOL states that the FAQ is not a substitute for statutes or administrative rules, is not complete, and gives no individual legal advice. The extracted page showed no publication date or version.
Publisher and place: U.S. Department of Labor · Federal.
Read: 2026-10-25.
Displayed date or version: No displayed date or version in extracted page.
Source limits: This short federal overview states an immediate-payment baseline only. It does not decide coverage, state-law requirements, contract rights, or an individual remedy. No displayed date or version appeared in the extracted page.
Read the scope and exceptions beside each explanation. These links do not replace review of personal facts or qualified legal advice.