How long do you have to cash a paycheck depends on who issued it, but the usual answer is six months. That default comes from the Uniform Commercial Code, which tells banks they do not have to honor a check presented more than six months after its date. Your employer can shorten that window by printing an expiration on the check itself, and the federal government extends it to one year for Treasury checks. Whichever deadline applies, the wages behind the check are still yours if you miss it.
The Six-Month Default
The UCC gives banks a clear cutoff: they are not required to pay a check presented more than six months after the date it was issued.1Cornell Law School. Uniform Commercial Code 4-404 – Bank Not Obliged to Pay Check More Than Six Months Old People sometimes shorthand that as 180 days, but the statute says “six months,” which runs a day or two longer on some calendars. Count by months if you’re close to the line.
Notice the word “required.” A bank can still choose to process an older check if the payer’s account has funds and the bank acts in good faith. Some tellers will run a stale check through without comment. Automated systems tend to reject on sight. You can’t predict which you’ll get, so treat six months as a hard deadline rather than a soft one.
When the Check Says “Void After 90 Days”
Plenty of employers print language like “void after 90 days” or “void after 60 days” on their payroll checks. Shorter windows help companies close their books and clear outstanding items off their bank reconciliations. Banks generally honor whatever expiration the employer prints, especially when automated screening is looking for it.
A printed expiration doesn’t technically override the six-month UCC rule as a matter of law, but that distinction won’t help you at the teller window. If the check says 90 days and the bank refuses it on day 91, the legal nuance doesn’t put money in your account. Look at the face of your paycheck when you get it. Any expiration shorter than six months is your real deadline.
Federal Paychecks Last One Year
Checks drawn on the U.S. Treasury follow a different rule. Under federal law, they must be cashed within 12 months of the issue date.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 31 USC 3328 – Paying Checks and Drafts This covers federal employee paychecks, tax refund checks, Social Security payments, and any other check issued by the Treasury. The checks themselves say “VOID AFTER ONE YEAR” above the disbursing officer’s signature.3Treasury Financial Experience. Chapter 7000 Cancellations, Deposits, Reclamations, and Claims for Checks Drawn on the U.S. Treasury
After that year, the Treasury cancels the check automatically and returns the funds to the agency that issued it. No bank will process it at that point. To get a replacement, contact the agency that authorized the original payment, not the Treasury.4USAGov. Government Checks and Payments For a federal paycheck, that means your agency’s payroll office. For a tax refund, the IRS.
Cancellation of the check does not erase the government’s obligation to pay you. The statute preserves that obligation even after the check expires.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 31 USC 3328 – Paying Checks and Drafts You’re still owed the money. The paperwork is just longer.
Getting an Expired Paycheck Reissued
An expired check does not mean lost wages. The obligation to pay you for hours worked outlives the check itself, whether the deadline came from the UCC, from your employer’s own printed terms, or from federal statute. Your employer still owes you the money and must issue a replacement.
Start with your company’s payroll or HR department. They’ll confirm the original check was never cashed and typically place a stop-payment order before writing a new one. That stop-payment step protects the employer from paying the same wages twice if the old check ever resurfaces.
Watch for Stop-Payment Fees
Some employers try to deduct the bank’s stop-payment fee from the replacement check. Those fees generally run about $25 to $35 at major banks. Before you agree to any deduction, know that many states prohibit employers from passing this cost on to employees and treat the deduction as an unlawful reduction of earned wages. If your employer withholds a fee from a reissued check, check with your state’s labor department to see whether that’s allowed where you work. In some states the employer must absorb the cost regardless of who caused the delay.
If the Employer Has Closed
An uncashed paycheck gets harder to collect when the company that issued it no longer exists. If the employer shut down owing you wages, the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division may have already recovered back wages on your behalf. The DOL holds recovered wages for three years while trying to find workers, then sends unclaimed amounts to the U.S. Treasury.5U.S. Department of Labor. Workers Owed Wages
Search for wages owed to you through the DOL’s Workers Owed Wages tool. If a match comes up, submit a claim form with proof of identity, and the DOL processes payment in roughly six weeks.5U.S. Department of Labor. Workers Owed Wages If nothing appears there, check your state’s unclaimed property database. The funds may have been turned over to the state by the employer or by a bankruptcy trustee before the business closed. Between those two searches, most unclaimed wages eventually turn up.
Holding a Check Doesn’t Delay Your Taxes
One thing to know before you sit on a paycheck: the IRS taxes you based on when the check was available, not when you cashed it. Under the constructive receipt doctrine, a valid check available to you before year-end counts as income for that year even if you don’t deposit it until March.6Internal Revenue Service. Publication 525, Taxable and Nontaxable Income Your employer reports wages on your W-2 based on when payment was issued, not when you deposited it.7Internal Revenue Service. General Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3 (2026) Holding a December check into January doesn’t move that income into the new tax year. It just puts your bank records out of sync with your W-2.
The simplest way to keep all of these rules from mattering: deposit each paycheck the week you receive it.