New York requires a separated employee's final wages by the next regular payday (§191).
Law: N.Y. Lab. Law §§191, 198 · Rules checked October 2026
The same next-payday deadline applies when you quit. The free wage claim for either path goes to the New York State Department of Labor — the walkthrough in the kit lists its window and what to attach.
New York adds liquidated damages of 100% of the unpaid wages on top of the wages themselves when an employer fails to pay what the Labor Law requires (§198) — recovered through a Labor Department claim or court.
Your state lets the employer's own policy decide. If the handbook or your offer letter promises payout of accrued vacation — or the company has a practice of paying it — that promise is enforceable. If the policy says unused vacation is forfeited at separation, the state will generally hold you to it.
The free claim goes to New York State 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: 2190 days from the date the wages were due. New York wage claims reach back six years — but evidence is always strongest filed early.
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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.