Texas wage claims are cheap to file, easy to win when the paperwork is sloppy, and almost always preventable. This checker adds up the dollar exposure in a disputed separation and flags the policy gaps feeding it.
This tool estimates potential Texas Payday Law exposure for planning purposes. It is not legal advice and does not determine what is actually owed. Disputed separations with material dollars involved should be reviewed before you respond to the employee or the TWC.
The Texas Payday Law covers regular pay, overtime, commissions and bonuses owed under a written agreement or policy, and fringe benefits like PTO when a written policy or established practice promises payment. Exposure is the sum of every category in dispute, which is why one messy separation can stack five small numbers into one large one.
Discharged or laid-off employees must receive final pay within six calendar days; employees who quit are due by the next regular payday. Late final pay converts a payroll delay into an active violation, and it is the single most common trigger for a claim that then sweeps in every other disputed category.
A Texas wage claim generally must be filed with the TWC within 180 days from when the wages were due. That window is informational context for planning, never a reason to delay payment: wages owed are owed, and waiting out a clock while an employee asks in writing is how good-faith defenses evaporate.
No. Holding earned wages against property recovery is treated as an unlawful withholding. Pay what is owed on time and pursue the property as a separate matter, with a signed deduction authorization being the only clean path to offsetting it through payroll.
Only if your written policy or consistent practice created the obligation. Texas does not require payout by default, but a policy that promises it, or a history of paying it, makes unused PTO enforceable as wages. Silence plus inconsistent practice is the worst position to defend.
Ambiguity gets resolved in a dispute, usually expensively. If the plan is silent on earned-versus-payable at separation, the employee's interpretation becomes the claim, and your past practice becomes the evidence. Fix the plan language before the next separation.
Treat it as the start of the formal record, because it is. Respond factually, pay what is clearly owed on time, document the basis for anything disputed, and get review before taking any action that could look retaliatory.
Book a no-cost 30-minute consult. Bring your result, and leave with a straight read on the risk and a practical next step.