Late or Unpaid Final Paycheck? Estimate the Penalty.

When a Louisiana employer is late paying a departing worker, the law can add penalty wages on top of what is owed. This free tool gives a rough sense of that figure under the Louisiana Wage Payment Act. It is not legal advice.

Louisiana law requires final wages to be paid by the next regular payday or within fifteen days of leaving — whichever comes first; for an employee who resigns, the payday is the one for the pay cycle in which the employee was working at separation (La. R.S. 23:631). Miss that, and an employer can owe penalty wages of up to ninety days’ pay (La. R.S. 23:632).

The estimate

How were you paid?

Pick how your pay was usually figured, then enter the amount below.

Your hourly rate ($)

Hours per week

We use these to estimate your daily rate of pay, which is what the penalty is measured in.

When did you ask for your final pay (or when was it due)?

Use the date you demanded payment after leaving, or the date the final wages were due. The penalty period runs from here.

Have you been paid yet?

Please read. This tool is a free educational aid, not legal advice, and using it does not create an attorney-client relationship. It applies only the general Louisiana penalty-wage rule (La. R.S. 23:631–632) and is a rough estimate, not a calculation of what a court would award. The real figure depends on details this tool does not collect — the correct daily rate of pay, whether a demand was properly made, and an employer’s good-faith dispute over what is owed, which can eliminate the penalty. A court may also award reasonable attorney fees on a well-founded suit. This statute is Louisiana law only — Mississippi has no equivalent penalty-wage statute. Do not rely on this number. For a real answer, speak with a lawyer.

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