Illinois requires final pay by the next regular payday — and asks for it sooner, on the day of separation, when that is possible.
Law: 820 ILCS 115/5, 115/14 · Rules checked October 2026
Quitting carries the same next-payday deadline in Illinois. The free wage claim for either path goes to the Illinois Department of Labor — the walkthrough in the kit lists its window and what to attach.
Illinois damages run on a monthly clock: 5% of the underpayment for each month (or part of one) the wages stay unpaid, owed to the employee under 820 ILCS 115/14 — on top of the wages themselves.
Your state treats earned vacation as wages: if you had accrued, unused vacation when you left, it must be paid in your final check. Forfeiture clauses ("use it or lose it" at separation) are void here.
The free claim goes to Illinois Department of Labor. It costs nothing and you do not need a lawyer; what you need is the amount computed, the demand already sent where your state rewards one, and the file assembled.
Filing window: set by state law and shorter than people expect — file within weeks, not months.
Compute your Illinois verdict — free
General information from the published statute — not legal advice. Penalty figures elsewhere on this site are statutory maximums, with willfulness conditions named where the statute names them.