North Carolina requires final wages by the next regular payday (if the amount cannot be calculated by then, by the payday after that).
Law: N.C. Gen. Stat. §§95-25.7, 95-25.22 · Rules checked October 2026
The same next-payday deadline applies when you quit. The free wage claim for either path goes to the North Carolina Department of Labor — the walkthrough in the kit lists its window and what to attach.
North Carolina sets no automatic penalty in the timing rule, but a court can add liquidated damages up to the amount of the unpaid wages where the failure was not in good faith (§95-25.22).
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 North Carolina 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 North Carolina 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.