If you were fired, Connecticut requires payment by the next business day after discharge.
Law: Conn. Gen. Stat. §§31-71c, 31-72 · Rules checked October 2026
If you quit — or were laid off — the deadline is the next regular payday. The free wage claim for either path goes to the Connecticut Department of Labor — the walkthrough in the kit lists its window and what to attach.
Connecticut has no automatic per-day penalty, but a court can award double damages where wages were withheld in bad faith (§31-72) — the claim route is how the pressure is applied.
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 Connecticut 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 Connecticut 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.