Unpaid wages in Ohio: what the law says

What the statute says

Final pay detail

Ohio has no termination-specific final-paycheck deadline — the words "discharged" and "quit" do not appear in the wage payment statute at all.

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Final wages are governed by the same semi-monthly rule as every other paycheck, ORC 4113.15(A): the employer "shall, on or before the first day of each month, pay all its employees the wages earned by them during the first half of the preceding month ending with the fifteenth day thereof, and shall, on or before the fifteenth day of each month, pay such employees the wages earned by them during the last half of the preceding calendar month." The same subsection expressly does not prohibit daily or weekly payment, a longer lapse customary to a given trade, or a different lapse set by written contract or by operation of law.

In practice that means the lawful wait depends on where in the half-month cycle your last day falls — roughly 15 to 31 days — and a customary trade schedule or your contract can lawfully extend it further. There is no "due on your last day" rule in Ohio, and no fixed number of days after termination.

Penalty for paying late

ORC 4113.15(B): where wages remain unpaid for 30 days beyond the regularly scheduled payday (or 60 days beyond the filing of a claim or the date of an agreement/award where no regular payday applies), and 'no contest court order or dispute of any wage claim including the assertion of a counterclaim exists accounting…

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for nonpayment,' the employer is liable as liquidated damages for 'six per cent of the amount of the claim still unpaid and not in contest or disputed or two hundred dollars, whichever is greater.' This is a weak remedy - 6% or a $200 floor, nothing like a per-day penalty - and it is defeated by any bona fide dispute or counterclaim.

State minimum wage

$11.00 / hour

Overtime beyond federal law

ORC 4111.03: 1.5x the employee's wage rate for hours over 40 in one workweek. Weekly only, no daily overtime, and NOT stronger than the FLSA.

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Two Ohio-specific limits cut the other way: (1) coverage reaches only employers with annual gross volume of sales/business done of at least $150,000 exclusive of separately stated retail excise taxes, so small employers fall out of the state overtime rule entirely (FLSA may still apply); (2) ORC 4111.031, added by S.B. 47 of the 134th General Assembly effective 2022-07-06, expressly excludes from compensable overtime time spent walking/riding/traveling to and from the place of performance of the principal activity, activities preliminary or postliminary to the principal activity, and activities requiring insubstantial or insignificant periods of time beyond scheduled hours - subject to carve-outs where the work is done during regular hours, at the employer's direction, or under a contract or established workplace custom.

Liquidated damages

Depends entirely on which claim is brought, and the spread is large. (a) MINIMUM WAGE violations: Ohio Const. art. II, s. 34a and ORC 4111.14 give back wages plus 'damages ... calculated as an additional two times the amount of the back wages' - i.e.

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3x total - plus the employee's costs and reasonable attorney's fees; for anti-retaliation violations, an amount set by the state or court sufficient to compensate and deter, 'but not less than one hundred fifty dollars for each day that the violation continued.' Section 34a/4111.14 also bar any exhaustion requirement and bar imposing costs or fees on the employee unless the action is found frivolous. (b) OVERTIME-only claims under ORC 4111.03: ORC 4111.10 gives the unpaid amount 'and for costs and reasonable attorney's fees as may be allowed by the court' - NO statutory multiplier. (c) Late payment of otherwise-correct wages under ORC 4113.15: only the 6%/$200 liquidated damages above. Conflating (a) with (b) or (c) would overstate an Ohio claimant's exposure recovery substantially.

Time limit to sue

2 years

TWO years for an unpaid-overtime or unpaid-minimum-wage claim under ORC 2305.11(A) (SB 13, 134th GA, eff. 2021-06-16). THREE years survives only for claims under Ohio Const. art. II § 34a — minimum wage, retaliation and records violations — per art.

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II § 34a and ORC 4111.14(K), or one year after final disposition of a state complaint for the same violation, whichever is later. The period for a pure ORC 4113.15 late-payment claim is UNVERIFIED; do not assert one.

Who handles complaints

Ohio Department of Commerce, Division of Industrial Compliance

Read it yourself

Official sources. If a number below matters to your case, open the statute and read it — laws get amended, and cities often stack stricter local rules on top.

• Ohio Const. art. II, s. 34a — Ohio Const. art. II, s. 34a - minimum wage, annual CPI indexing, small-employer/under-16 exception, treble-style damages, 3-year limitations period, attorney's fees
• Ohio Rev. Code s. 4113.15(A), (B) — ORC 4113.15 - semi-monthly wage payment rule (subsection A) and 6%/$200 liquidated damages after 30 days (subsection B); contains NO discharge- or quit-specific deadline. Effective 2019-03-20 (H.B. 494, 132nd G.A.)
• Ohio Rev. Code s. 4111.14 — ORC 4111.14 - implements art. II s. 34a: 3-year limitations period (or 1 year after notice of final state disposition), damages of an additional two times back wages, $150/day retaliation floor, no exhaustion requirement, 'the state' means the director of commerce. Effective 2019-07-03
• Ohio Rev. Code s. 4111.03 — ORC 4111.03 - overtime at 1.5x over 40 hours per workweek; $150,000 annual gross volume employer coverage threshold. Effective 2022-07-06
• Ohio Rev. Code s. 4111.10 — ORC 4111.10 - employer liability for unpaid overtime: full amount less amounts paid, plus costs and reasonable attorney's fees as allowed by the court (no multiplier). Effective 2022-07-06
• Ohio Rev. Code s. 4111.02 — ORC 4111.02 - duty to pay not less than the rate specified in art. II s. 34a; director of commerce makes the annual adjustment; political subdivisions preempted from setting different rates. Effective 2017-03-21
• Ohio Rev. Code s. 4111.031 — ORC 4111.031 - travel, preliminary/postliminary and de minimis time excluded from overtime, with carve-outs. Added by S.B. 47, 134th G.A., effective 2022-07-06
• Ohio Dept. of Commerce, 2026 Minimum Wage poster (official mandatory posting) — Official State of Ohio 2026 Minimum Wage poster (Ohio Dept. of Commerce): $11.00/hr non-tipped; $5.50/hr plus tips for tipped employees; employers grossing less than $405,000 pay the federal rate; employees under 16 pay the federal rate; federal rate stated as $7.25; overtime 1.5x over 40 except employers grossing under $150,000; enforcing office given as Ohio Department of Commerce, Division of Industrial Compliance, 6606 Tussing Road, Reynoldsburg, OH 43068, phone 614-644-2239

Last checked: 2026-08-17