South Carolina requires final pay within 48 hours of separation if you ask in writing — and in all cases by the next regular payday, never more than 30 days out.
Law: S.C. Code Ann. §§41-10-50, 41-10-80 · Rules checked October 2026
The same rule applies when you quit: 48 hours on written request, or the next payday, capped at 30 days.
South Carolina does not add an automatic penalty, but §41-10-80 lets a court award up to three times the withheld wages in a civil action — the documented demand is what makes that claim real.
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 South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. 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 South 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.