Final paycheck due at separation if possible — no later than next regular payday.
The Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act (820 ILCS 115/5) applies the same final-paycheck deadline to both voluntary and involuntary terminations: at the time of separation if possible, but in no event later than the next regularly scheduled payday. Late final wages incur a 5% per month penalty under the IL Wage Payment Act, plus attorney fees, plus double damages for willful nonpayment.
Final Paycheck Timing
Calculates final pay within 1 minute of termination workflow start. Same deadline for voluntary and involuntary. Blocks offboarding workflow close until payment is processed.
What those rules do when termination workflow starts.
The hero card configuration: Block on offboarding close without final pay, Critical on next-payday visibility.
When HR or a manager attempts to close out an offboarding workflow, Teambridge blocks the close until the final paycheck is processed. "Cannot close: final pay not yet issued."
When termination is initiated, the offboarding workflow shows the next regular payday as the hard deadline. The clock is visible throughout the workflow.
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Same deadline, voluntary or involuntary — and the IL Wage Payment Act adds teeth.
Illinois treats voluntary and involuntary terminations identically for final-paycheck timing. The deadline is at-separation-if-possible, no later than next regular payday. The IL Wage Payment Act provides much stronger remedies than most state final-pay statutes.
Same deadline regardless of separation type
Whether the worker quit, was fired, retired, was laid off, or any other separation: the deadline is the same — at separation if possible, otherwise next regular payday. This is simpler than Texas (6-day rule for involuntary, next-payday for voluntary) but enforced more strictly under the IL Wage Payment Act.
Final compensation includes vacation
Final pay must include all wages owed, OT earned, accrued vacation/PTO under the employer's policy, pending reimbursements, commissions/bonuses earned per agreement. Illinois treats vacation as earned wages — see the vacation-payout policy. Failing to include vacation is a Wage Payment Act violation, not just a contractual one.
Teambridge calculates final pay, gates offboarding, prevents the property-deduction trap.
The next-payday deadline sounds forgiving but the 5%-per-month penalty and Wage Payment Act remedies make late final pay one of the costliest mistakes Illinois employers make.
Workflow opens with countdown.
When termination is initiated, the offboarding workflow shows the next regular payday as the deadline. Days remaining display visibly.
Within 1 minute of termination start.
Teambridge calculates regular wages owed, OT earned, accrued vacation per the employer's written policy, pending reimbursements, commissions/bonuses earned per agreement. The amount is locked from edit.
Cannot reduce for unreturned property.
Even if the worker hasn't returned a laptop, badge, or uniform, the property value cannot be deducted without prior written authorization (per the wage-deduction policy). The deduction request fails at the source.
Workflow can't close without payment.
The HR offboarding workflow blocks completion until the final paycheck is issued. Property recovery, exit interviews, and documentation can run in parallel.
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