Unpaid wages in Texas: what the law says

My employer owes me wages

State law

What the statute says

Final pay after being fired: 6 days
Final pay detail: Tex. Lab. Code 61.014(a): 'An employer shall pay in full an employee who is discharged from employment not later than the sixth day after the date the employee is discharged.' TWC states this as 'Final payment is due within six (6) calendar days of the last day' - so the 6 in final_paycheck_days_fired is SIX CALENDAR DAYS, not business days.
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Tex. Lab. Code 61.014(b): an employee 'who leaves employment other than by discharge' must be paid in full 'not later than the next regularly scheduled payday'; TWC restates this as 'the next regularly scheduled payday after the effective date of resignation.' Because the voluntary-quit deadline is a floating payday and not a day count, final_paycheck_days_quit is deliberately omitted rather than guessed. Texas gives no advance-notice variation and no immediate-payment rule.
Penalty for paying late: Texas has no per-day waiting-time penalty and no interest-based penalty comparable to California's Labor Code 203. The only monetary add-on in the Texas Payday Law is Tex. Lab.
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Code 61.053 ("Bad Faith; Administrative Penalty"): an examiner, tribunal or the Texas Workforce Commission may assess an administrative penalty against an employer — or an employee — that acted in bad faith, on top of ordering the wages paid, taking into account the severity of the violation, prior violations, deterrence and mitigating circumstances. But "an administrative penalty assessed under this section may not exceed the lesser of: (1) the amount of the wages in question or claimed; or (2) $1,000." The practical ceiling is therefore $1,000, which is dramatically weaker than the California or New York remedies.
State minimum wage: $7.25 / hour
Overtime beyond federal law: No - Texas has no overtime standard stronger than the FLSA, and no daily overtime. Overtime for private-sector Texas employees is governed by the federal FLSA; TWC's official Texas Guidebook for Employers states 'overtime is generally at time-and-a-half for all hours worked in excess of 40 in a seven-day workweek' and that 'Individual state minimum wage laws do not apply unless the FLSA does not apply - for all practical purposes, businesses can assume that all of their employees are covered under the federal wage and hour laws.' Consistently, Tex.
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Lab. Code 62.151 provides that Chapter 62 'and a municipal ordinance or charter provision governing wages in private employment, other than wages under a public contract, do not apply to a person covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938' - which also preempts city-level minimum wage ordinances for private employment. The Texas Payday Law enforces payment of wages the employer actually agreed to or owes (which can include unpaid overtime), but it does not create an independent state overtime entitlement.
Who handles complaints: Texas Workforce Commission

Read this before relying on the numbers above

The deadline for filing a wage claim with the state is short and it is strict: 180 days from the date the wages were due to be paid. It runs from the date each unpaid amount came due, not from your last day of work, so older paychecks can fall outside the window while more recent ones are still inside it. The state treats this deadline as jurisdictional, which means it has no power to extend it or to excuse a late filing, even by a day.

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.

Tex. Lab. Code § 61.014(a), (b) — Tex. Labor Code sec. 61.014 (Payment After Termination of Employment) - (a) discharge: not later than the sixth day after discharge; (b) quit: not later than the next regularly scheduled payday. Verbatim code mirror, page states current as of January 01, 2026
Tex. Lab. Code § 61.051 — Tex. Labor Code sec. 61.051 (FILING WAGE CLAIM) - 'A wage claim must be filed not later than the 180th day after the date the wages claimed became due for payment. The 180-day deadline is a matter of jurisdiction.' Verbatim code mirror, current as of January 01, 2026
Tex. Lab. Code § 61.053 — Tex. Labor Code sec. 61.053 (Bad Faith; Administrative Penalty) - penalty 'may not exceed the lesser of: (1) the amount of the wages in question or claimed; or (2) $1,000.' Verbatim code mirror, current as of January 01, 2026
Tex. Lab. Code § 62.051 — Tex. Labor Code sec. 62.051 (Minimum Wage) - 'Except as provided by Section 62.057, an employer shall pay to each employee the federal minimum wage under Section 6, Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. Section 206).' Verbatim code mirror, current as of January 01, 2026
Tex. Lab. Code § 62.151 — Tex. Labor Code sec. 62.151 (Person Covered by Federal Act) - Chapter 62 and municipal wage ordinances for private employment do not apply to a person covered by the FLSA. Verbatim code mirror, current as of January 01, 2026
29 U.S.C. § 206(a)(1)(C) — 29 U.S.C. sec. 206(a)(1) - federal minimum wage schedule culminating in '$7.25 an hour, beginning 24 months after that 60th day' (i.e. July 24, 2009). Official U.S. House Office of the Law Revision Counsel text
TWC - Texas Payday Law, Labor Code Chapter 61 — Texas Workforce Commission official Texas Payday Law page - final payment due within six calendar days of the last day for discharge; next regularly scheduled payday for resignation; wage claim within 180 days of the original date wages were due
TWC - Texas Minimum Wage Law (Tex. Lab. Code ch. 62) — Texas Workforce Commission official Texas Minimum Wage Law page - 'The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. (Effective July 24, 2009)', citing Chapter 62, Texas Labor Code
TWC Texas Guidebook for Employers - Fair Labor Standards Act: What It Does and Does Not Do — TWC official 'Texas Guidebook for Employers' - FLSA overtime at time-and-a-half over 40 hours in a seven-day workweek; federal minimum wage $7.25 'the same level under Texas state law'; state minimum wage laws do not apply unless the FLSA does not apply

Last checked: 2026-08-17

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Jab Today is not a law firm and this is not legal advice. This page describes how the statutes read, which is a different thing from what will happen in your case. Laws are amended and local ordinances often add stricter rules. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.