Deadline for your final pay, by country
These statutes set a payment deadline for the end of a job, but they do not all cover the same money. Japan lets a departing worker demand all wages within seven days; Austria makes earned pay due on the day employment ends; Canada, Norway and Sweden fix a deadline only for holiday pay (and, in Canada, unpaid overtime) owed on departure, at 30 days, the last regular payday and one month respectively.
Scope of this guide
Canada: the Canada Labour Code (federal sector) and the Ontario statutes that LawAsked has loaded. Other provinces are not compared.
| Country | Deadline | What the deadline covers | Starts when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | On the day employment ends | Pay already earned | Employment ends |
| Canada | 30 days | Vacation pay owing and overtime wages for time off not taken | Day after the employee ceases to be employed |
| Japan | 7 days | Wages and money or goods belonging to the worker | The worker or other entitled person requests it |
| Norway | Last regular payday before leaving | All accrued holiday pay | Employment ends |
| Sweden | Without undue delay, and at the latest 1 month | Holiday compensation for holiday pay not yet received | Employment ends |
Country by country
Austria
- Rule
- ABGB § 1154 (3)
- Applies to earned pay in every employment relationship under the Dienstvertrag chapter of the ABGB. Paragraphs 1 and 2 of the section set earlier due dates for regular pay periods.
In jedem Falle wird das bereits verdiente Entgelt mit der Beendigung des Dienstverhältnisses fällig. Canada
- Rule
- Canada Labour Code ss. 188 and 174(5)
- Federally regulated employers only. The Code sections quoted set a deadline for vacation pay and for overtime time off that was not taken; the ingested text states no deadline for ordinary wages.
the employer shall pay to the employee within 30 days after the day on which the employee ceases to be employed the employer shall, within 30 days after the day on which the employee ceases to be employed, pay the employee’s wages for the overtime for which the time off was not taken Japan
- Rule
- 労働基準法 第23条
- Applies on retirement or death of the worker. The deadline runs from the request, not from the last day. Where the amount is disputed, the undisputed part must still be paid within the same period.
使用者は、労働者の死亡又は退職の場合において権利者の請求があつた場合においては、七日以内に賃金を支払い Norway
- Rule
- Ferieloven § 11 (3)
- Covers holiday pay only. Section 11 (9) allows paragraphs 1 to 5 to be departed from by collective agreement.
Opphører arbeidsforholdet, skal alle opptjente feriepenger utbetales siste vanlige lønningsdag før fratreden.Reglene i nr. 1 – 5 kan fravikes ved tariffavtale. Sweden
- Rule
- Semesterlagen 28 and 30 §§
- Covers holiday compensation only. If the amount cannot be calculated within the month, it is due within a week after the obstacle ends.
Semesterersättning ska betalas ut till arbetstagaren utan oskäligt dröjsmål och senast en månad efter anställningens upphörande. Om anställningen upphör innan arbetstagaren har fått den semesterlön som tjänats in, ska arbetstagaren i stället få semesterersättning. Countries not in this table yet
Australia, Germany, France, Spain and the Netherlands are left out: the ingested texts require payment of leave or settlement figures on termination but state no deadline for it. The United States (federal law) and the United Kingdom are not covered by the ingested acts.
How this table was built
Every row is taken from the official, consolidated text of the statute, which LawAsked loads from each government’s legislation service.
Each figure is tied to a passage quoted word for word from that text. When the page is served, it checks that every quoted passage is still in the current text of a law that is in force; if a law is amended and its wording changes, that row is hidden until a person reviews it again.
The table shows the statutory minimum only. Collective agreements, awards and individual contracts often give more than the statute, and some countries let a collective agreement set different terms.
Use this data
The table and the CSV are free to reuse under CC BY 4.0: credit LawAsked and link to this page. Quoted statute text stays under the terms of its official source.
How to cite this page
LawAsked, “Deadline for your final pay, by country”, https://lawasked.com/guides/final-paycheck-deadline (reviewed October 25, 2026).
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