In most cases, yes — a company has to pay commission after you leave if you earned it before your last day, because an earned commission is treated as wages you’re owed rather than a discretionary bonus. The harder question is whether the commission was actually “earned” under your agreement before you walked out, and whether any contract language or state law changes that answer. Three things decide it: what your commission agreement says about when a commission is earned, whether that agreement contains forfeiture or “active employment” language, and which state’s wage laws apply to you.
When a Commission Is Legally Earned
A commission is earned when you’ve done everything your agreement requires of you. It is not earned on the day the company cuts the check. Those two dates can be weeks or months apart, and that gap is where most disputes live.
The earning event depends on what your agreement specifies. Common triggers include the customer signing a contract, the order shipping, the customer’s payment clearing, or the close of a subscription period. If you secured a signed contract on your last day and your agreement defines that signature as the earning event, that commission belongs to you. The employer invoicing the client two weeks later and collecting payment a month after that doesn’t change anything. Those are administrative steps that happen after you did your part.
The flip side matters just as much. If your agreement says commissions are earned upon customer payment and you leave before the customer pays, you may have no contractual right to that commission even though you did all the selling. Identify the trigger in your own agreement before assuming you’re owed money — or that you’re not.
If you never signed a written commission agreement, your claim gets harder to prove but doesn’t disappear. Courts in many jurisdictions recognize that a consistent pattern of paying commissions at a particular milestone can establish the terms of an implied agreement. If your employer paid you on every deal at contract signing for three years, that history is evidence of the deal’s terms even without a signed document.
What Your Commission Agreement Controls
Find your commission agreement before you do anything else. It might be a standalone contract, a section of your offer letter, an addendum, or a plan document referenced in your employee handbook. Read it for three things: when a commission is considered earned, what triggers the payout, and whether it addresses termination or resignation.
Pay close attention to forfeiture language. Many commission plans state that you must be employed on the date the commission is paid, or on some specific future date, to receive it. These “active employment” clauses are the single most common reason employers refuse post-termination commission payments — and their enforceability varies dramatically by state.
In states like California and New York, earned commissions are treated as wages, and wages cannot be forfeited through contract language. An employer in those states generally cannot use an active-employment clause to withhold a commission you already earned. Other states, including Georgia and Virginia, will enforce forfeiture provisions if the contract language is clear and unambiguous, meaning the agreement must spell out in unmistakable terms that the commission won’t be paid if you’re no longer employed on a specific date.
So a forfeiture clause in your agreement doesn’t automatically mean you lose the commission. Whether it holds up depends on your state’s law and how the clause is worded.
When the Agreement Says Nothing: Procuring Cause
If your commission agreement doesn’t address what happens after termination, many courts apply the “procuring cause” doctrine as a default rule. The principle is simple: the person whose efforts were the primary reason a sale happened is entitled to the commission, whether or not they were still employed when the deal formally closed.
The Texas Supreme Court applied this reasoning in Perthuis v. Baylor Miraca Genetics Laboratories, LLC, holding that because the employment agreement was silent on post-termination commissions, the procuring cause doctrine applied, and the fact that the employee was at-will didn’t override it. Other courts have reached similar conclusions, finding that the right to a commission vests when the salesperson procures the sale, not when the transaction is finalized.
The doctrine only fills gaps. If your agreement explicitly addresses post-termination commissions, the contract language controls, and courts won’t use procuring cause to override clear terms.
State Wage Laws That Back You Up
Most states classify earned commissions as “wages” under their wage payment laws. That matters because employers face the same legal consequences for withholding earned commissions as they do for withholding a regular paycheck, and these state protections can override unfavorable contract terms.
State wage payment laws typically require employers to pay all earned wages, including commissions, within a specified window after separation. That window varies. Some states require immediate payment upon termination, others allow up to 72 hours for employees who quit without notice, and some permit payment by the next regular payday. Federal law does not mandate immediate final payment, but it does require that earned wages be paid by the next regular payday for the pay period in which the work was performed.1U.S. Department of Labor. Last Paycheck
Penalties for missing those deadlines can be significant. Under federal law, an employer who fails to pay earned wages may owe liquidated damages equal to the amount of the unpaid wages, effectively doubling what you’re owed.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 US Code 216 – Penalties A court can reduce or eliminate liquidated damages if the employer proves it acted in good faith and reasonably believed it wasn’t violating the law.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 US Code 260 – Liquidated Damages State penalties often go further. Some states allow double or triple damages, and others impose daily or monthly penalties that accumulate until payment is made.
Clawbacks and Draws After You Leave
Some employers try to run the exchange in reverse: clawing back commissions on deals that later fall through, or demanding repayment of draw advances that exceeded earned commissions. Both have limits.
A draw is an advance paid during periods when your earned commissions fall below a certain threshold, often the minimum wage. While you’re employed, employers can generally deduct prior draw amounts from future commission checks. Demanding repayment of unearned draws after termination is a different matter. The Sixth Circuit ruled in Stein v. HHGregg Inc. that a company policy holding terminated employees liable for unearned draw payments violated the Fair Labor Standards Act, even though the company had never actually enforced it. Minimum wage must be paid “free and clear,” and a policy creating potential liability upon termination undermines that guarantee.
For chargebacks on deals that cancel after you leave, your exposure depends on what your agreement says and your state’s law. Some agreements explicitly allow chargebacks within a defined period. But once a commission qualifies as an earned wage under state law, the employer’s ability to claw it back shrinks considerably. If a former employer is trying to recover a commission from you, look at whether the chargeback provision was in your original agreement and whether your state treats the commission as a vested wage.
How to Collect What You’re Owed
Send a Written Demand
Before filing anything with a government agency, send a formal demand letter to your former employer. Keep it professional and specific. Identify each commission you believe you’re owed, state the dollar amount, reference the sales that generated it, and point to the agreement language that supports your claim. Attach copies of relevant sales records, client contracts, or commission statements.
Set a reasonable deadline. Fourteen days is standard. State plainly that you’ll pursue legal remedies if payment isn’t made, and send the letter by certified mail so you have proof of delivery. This step resolves more commission disputes than people expect, because employers often calculate that paying up is cheaper than defending a wage claim.
File a Wage Claim
If the demand letter doesn’t work, file a wage claim with your state’s department of labor or equivalent agency. You can also file with the federal Wage and Hour Division by calling 1-866-487-9243. These agencies investigate wage disputes and can order payment without you having to hire a lawyer or file a lawsuit. You’ll need to provide your employment details, the amounts owed, and supporting documentation. Your complaint is confidential — the agency cannot disclose your name or the nature of the complaint to the public, and your employer cannot retaliate against you for filing.4U.S. Department of Labor. How to File a Complaint
Check for an Arbitration Clause
Before you think about a lawsuit, check whether your employment agreement contains a mandatory arbitration clause. More than half of non-union private-sector employers now require arbitration, which means you may be unable to take your commission dispute to court. If your agreement includes arbitration, you’ll pursue your claim through a private arbitration process instead. Most arbitration clauses also include class-action waivers, so you’d be bringing your claim individually even if other former employees have the same problem. Arbitration isn’t necessarily worse than court, but it changes your strategy and timeline, so identify this requirement early.
Don’t Wait Past the Deadline
Statute of limitations deadlines will permanently bar your claim if you miss them. Under federal law, you have two years from the date of the violation to file an FLSA claim, or three years if the employer’s failure to pay was willful.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 US Code 255 – Statute of Limitations State deadlines vary significantly, with some states allowing as many as six years. The clock typically starts running from the date the commission should have been paid, not your last day of employment. Waiting to see if the employer comes around is one of the most expensive mistakes in commission recovery. By the time people consult a lawyer, they’ve sometimes already lost part of their claim to the calendar.