Montana requires a discharged employee's wages at the time of discharge (a short payroll-processing exception exists for some industries).
Law: Mont. Code Ann. §§39-3-205, 39-3-206 · Rules checked October 2026
If you quit, Montana sets the deadline at the next regular payday. The free wage claim for either path goes to the Montana Department of Labor and Industry — the walkthrough in the kit lists its window and what to attach.
Montana sets no automatic per-day penalty in the timing rule, but in a state wage claim the Department can assess a penalty of up to 110% of the wages due — the claim is the mechanism.
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 Montana Department of Labor and Industry. 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 Montana 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.