Final pay and record dates: 3 checks before last shift

• Check Texas's six-calendar-day final pay deadline for laid-off, discharged, or fired employees.
• Confirm the paydays you have designated, or use the first and 15th of each month in Texas where none are designated.
• Keep Alaska payroll records for each employee for at least three years at the place of employment.

Each rule applies only in the state that sets it. The Texas points below hold under Texas law, and the Alaska point holds under Alaska law. If your crews work in another state, use this post as a list of questions to bring to that state's labor agency, not as the rule for your shop.

Under Texas's rule, final payment for a laid-off, discharged, or fired employee is due within six (6) calendar days of the last day. The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) states this on its Texas Payday Law page.

Check other ways a job can end against their own source before you assume the same six days apply.

"Calendar days" is the word to watch. Weekends count, so a last day on a Friday leaves Saturday and Sunday inside the window. Because the count runs from the last day, the deadline is a fixed date you can write down before the shift ends.

Write the deadline on the calendar when the departure date is set, not after the paperwork is done. Then tell payroll the exact date in the same message, so nobody has to guess what "six days" means.

The same TWC page states the general requirement: "The Texas Payday Law requires employers to pay their employees in full, on time, and on scheduled paydays." Read the six-day deadline alongside that sentence rather than as a separate task.

Under Texas's rule, if an employer does not designate paydays, the paydays are the first and 15th of each month. The TWC Texas Payday Law page gives this default.

The default is a fallback, not a schedule. It applies only when no paydays are designated, so a shop with a written pay schedule should not rely on it. Pull up the schedule you gave the tech and compare it with the default. If you have designated paydays, check the final check against those.

Here is how the default plays out. Say a shop has no designated paydays and a tech's last day falls early in the month. The next default payday is the 15th, but the six-day count still runs from the last day, not from the 15th. Keeping those two dates separate is the point of the exercise.

Check the schedule before the last shift, not during the final payroll run. Ask payroll to confirm in writing which payday will carry the final check and how that date lines up with the six-day deadline. A written answer is easier to rely on later than a verbal one, and it gives the tech a date to point to if they ask.

According to the TWC Texas Payday Law page, an employee can file a claim for unpaid wages up to 180 days from the date the wages were due to be paid.

That window is the outer limit, not a target. A short or late final check can lead to a claim up to 180 days after the wages were due, and that clock runs from the due date, not from the last shift. Keep the records that show each pay date and amount, so the file is complete if a question comes up months later.

The same page describes what happens after a claim is decided. A determination becomes final 31 days after TWC mails it when no appeal is filed, or when the order is appealed and affirmed in the employee's favor. After that, the claim is sent to Collections if wages are owed and unpaid. Read that sequence as the path a claim takes once wages were due and unpaid, which is one more reason to get the final check right the first time.

Under Alaska's rule, an employer must keep, for at least three years, all payroll information and records for each employee at the place of employment. The Minimum Wage Standard and Overtime Hours page at labor.alaska.gov states this.

Do not assume the clock starts on the last shift or at the end of a pay period. Ask the agency how the period is counted before you set a purge date for any file.

Records must be kept at the place of employment, so confirm with the agency before you rely on an off-site copy alone.

For a departing tech, the practical step is to avoid purging that employee's payroll file on the last shift. Label the file with the separation date, so whoever pulls it later can see when the employment ended and what period the records cover.

Put these dates on one close-out checklist that lists each date, the person who owns it, and the day it is due, so none of them depends on memory. Keep it in one place that both dispatch and payroll can see, and update it as soon as the last day changes.

• Last day of work. For a Texas laid-off, discharged, or fired employee, the final payment is due within six calendar days of this date.
• Designated paydays for the tech's schedule. If no paydays are designated in Texas, the first and 15th of each month are the paydays.
• Final check date, confirmed in writing by payroll.
• Payroll records for the employee. In Alaska, these must be kept for at least three years at the place of employment.
• Wage claim window in Texas. A claim can be filed up to 180 days from the date the wages were due to be paid.

Assign one owner to the checklist. Dispatch can confirm the last day, payroll can confirm the check and the deadlines, and the owner signs off before the file is closed. Splitting the work this way keeps each date with the person who can act on it.

Decide who owns each date before the last shift, because a date with no owner is easy to miss. Name one person for each row of the checklist, and write that name next to the date so nobody has to ask later.

The last day can belong to dispatch, since dispatch sets the schedule and knows which open jobs the tech is finishing. For the dispatch side of that handoff, see Field Service Work Order Checklist for Dispatch Handoffs. The final check and the six-day deadline belong with payroll, or with whoever runs payroll in your shop. The 180-day claim window is best tracked by the person who keeps the payroll file, because the pay dates and amounts would be found there if a question comes up later.

Put a backup beside each name. A backup keeps the close-out moving if the owner is out during the week the final check is due.

A payroll file for a departing tech should show the dates and amounts behind the final check, so anyone who opens it later can follow the story without asking the tech or the person who closed the file.

Start with the paydays in effect, and note whether they were designated or came from the default. Add the last day, the six-day deadline, and the date the final check was actually issued. Note how the tech chose to receive the check, whether pickup or mail. Keep the written messages that confirmed these dates, and note in the file where the original records are stored. For related hours and pay fields, see Calculate technician overtime with 8 payroll fields.

Start the timeline well before the last day, so there is room to fix a problem. This made-up Texas case covers a laid-off, discharged, or fired tech.

• When the departure date is set: Put the six-day deadline on the calendar with the exact date, and send payroll the final check details in writing.
• Well before the last day: Confirm the last day in writing, and ask payroll to pull the tech's current paydays.
• Shortly before the last day: Confirm which designated payday will carry the final check. If the shop has no designated paydays, check the first and 15th default instead.
• Last day: Collect the items you need from the tech, and label the payroll file with the separation date.
• Six calendar days after the last day: Final payment deadline for this example.

Tell the departing tech the last day, the final check date, and how the check will be delivered, all in writing and before the last shift. A written note removes guesswork for both sides and gives the tech something to refer back to after they leave.

Ask how the tech wants to receive the final check, such as pickup or mail, and record the answer in the file. If the tech has questions about their pay, answer them in the same written thread, so the record shows what was said and when.

Keep the tone plain and short. The message only needs the dates, the owner for each date, and a contact name for questions. A long explanation can bury the one date the tech needs most.

Route any question about the final check to one named contact, and answer it in writing. A single contact keeps the answers consistent, and a written answer gives both sides a record of what was said.

Keep the file easy to find after the tech leaves.

If a claim or a formal question arrives, do not reply from memory. Pull the file, check the dates against the checklist, and answer from the records. If the question involves a legal claim, send it to your attorney before you respond.

Four mistakes to avoid are counting business days instead of calendar days, relying on default paydays when a schedule exists, purging records on the last shift, and starting the claim clock at the last shift.

• Counting business days. The Texas six-day deadline counts calendar days, as the TWC page states, so weekends count toward it.
• Relying on the default paydays when a schedule exists. Under Texas's rule, the first and 15th apply only when an employer does not designate paydays.
• Purging the payroll file on the last shift. Under Alaska's rule, payroll information and records for each employee must be kept for at least three years at the place of employment.
• Starting the 180-day claim window at the last shift. The TWC page runs that window from the date the wages were due to be paid.

When a date in this post does not fit your situation, ask your state labor agency or an employment attorney before you act on it. Do not guess at a deadline or a retention period because a neighboring shop used a different one.

Anything beyond the rules above needs its own source. A local attorney can tell you which rules apply to your shop, your pay schedule, and your state.

Put those dates on the calendar before the last shift, and the close-out becomes a checklist instead of a scramble.

How many days does Texas allow for final pay?

Texas requires final payment for a laid-off, discharged, or fired employee within six calendar days of the last day, and weekends count.

What paydays apply in Texas if none are designated?

The paydays are the first and 15th of each month when an employer does not designate paydays.

How long must Alaska employers keep payroll records?

An Alaska employer must keep payroll information and records for each employee for at least three years at the place of employment.