In most cases, an employer cannot simply keep commissions you actually earned just because you quit. Once a commission is "earned" under your written agreement and the applicable state law, it is wages the employer owes you, and unpaid earned commissions are a form of wage theft. The hard part is usually not whether earned commissions are owed, but when a commission counts as earned, and that depends heavily on your commission plan, your state, and the timing of the sale.
The Core Question: When Is a Commission "Earned"?
A commission is money tied to sales or performance. The single most important idea in any commission dispute is the difference between a commission that is merely anticipated and one that is earned. An employer generally can refuse to pay a commission that was never earned under the rules you agreed to. An employer generally cannot refuse to pay a commission you already earned, even if you resign before payday.
What makes a commission "earned" is defined first by your commission agreement or plan document, and second by your state's wage laws. Common triggers a plan may use include: the customer signs the contract, the customer pays, the product ships, or the deal closes. If you completed everything required to earn the commission before you quit, that money is typically a wage the employer must pay you, even if it is paid out weeks later on its normal cycle.
The Federal Baseline
There is no federal law that sets a specific commission formula or guarantees you keep commissions after you quit. The main federal wage law, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), enforced by the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division, focuses on minimum wage and overtime. It does require that all wages you have earned be paid, and earned commissions are wages, but it does not deeply regulate the timing of final pay or the details of commission plans. Those details are left mostly to state law and to your contract.
Two practical points flow from this. First, even commissioned employees are generally entitled to at least the federal minimum wage for all hours worked (some commissioned retail and service workers fall under specific FLSA exemptions, but the baseline wage floor matters). Second, because the FLSA is mostly silent on commission timing, your strongest protections usually come from your state and your written agreement, not from federal law.
Where State Law Adds Real Teeth
State law is where most commission rights live, and protections vary widely by state. Many states treat earned commissions as wages and impose rules on how and when final wages must be paid after you leave. Some states add penalties when an employer fails to pay earned wages on time, and a number of states have statutes specifically governing sales commissions, including rules for commissions that become calculable only after you depart. Because these rules differ so much, treat the items below as this varies by state rather than fixed numbers.
California
California is generally protective of commissioned employees. Commissions are treated as wages, and California law requires employers to provide a written commission agreement to employees whose pay includes commissions. Earned commissions cannot be forfeited simply because you quit. A key California principle is that once you have done everything required to earn a commission, it belongs to you, and an employer cannot retroactively change the deal to take it away. California also has strict rules and potential penalties around the timing of final pay when employment ends. If a commission cannot be calculated until after your last day (for example, it depends on a customer payment that arrives later), it generally must be paid once it becomes calculable.
Texas
Texas relies heavily on your written commission agreement. Under the Texas Payday Law, enforced by the Texas Workforce Commission, commissions are wages, and an employer must pay wages that are due according to the agreed terms. The agreement controls when a commission is earned and payable, so a plan that says you must be employed on the payout date, or that conditions payment on customer payment, can be enforceable in Texas. If you earned the commission under the plan's terms before leaving, Texas law gives you a path to claim it. The lesson in Texas is that the written plan is decisive, so read it closely.
Florida
Florida does not have a broad state wage-payment statute like some states, so unpaid-commission claims in Florida often turn on contract law and the specific terms of your agreement. Earned commissions are still owed, and you can pursue them, but the analysis leans even more on what your written plan says and on general breach-of-contract principles. A clear, written commission agreement is especially valuable in Florida.
"You Must Be Employed on Payday" Clauses
Many commission plans include a forfeiture clause stating you must still be employed when the commission is paid in order to receive it. Whether such a clause is enforceable is one of the most contested issues in commission disputes, and the answer depends on your state.
In some states, courts enforce these clauses as written, meaning you can lose a commission if you leave before the payout date. In other states, courts are skeptical of clauses that let an employer pocket commissions an employee already fully earned through their work, and they may refuse to enforce a forfeiture of money that was effectively earned before departure. Because outcomes differ, do not assume a forfeiture clause is automatically valid or automatically void. This is exactly the kind of fact-specific question where the wording of your plan and your state's case law matter.