A Philippine Legal Article

The end of employment in the Philippines often triggers one of the most misunderstood areas of labor law: the employee’s right to final pay, unpaid salaries, and 13th month pay after resignation or termination. Many workers assume that once they resign, they automatically lose certain money claims. Many employers assume they can hold all pay until clearance is completed, company property is returned, a replacement is hired, an investigation ends, or a dispute is settled. Both assumptions are often wrong.

In Philippine labor law, separation from employment does not erase the employer’s duty to pay amounts already earned and legally due. Whether the employee resigned, was dismissed for cause, was terminated for authorized cause, was retrenched, was placed on end of contract, or simply stopped working because the employment relationship lawfully ended, several monetary consequences must be examined. These include final pay, salary for days already worked, pro-rated 13th month pay, unused leave conversions where applicable, commissions if earned, reimbursements, separation pay where legally due, and other benefits arising from law, contract, policy, or company practice.

This article explains the subject comprehensively in the Philippine context: what final pay is, what it includes, the legal treatment of unpaid salaries, how 13th month pay is computed upon separation, the difference between resignation and termination, how authorized and just-cause dismissals affect entitlements, the role of clearance, lawful and unlawful deductions, quitclaims, penalties for delayed payment, practical computation issues, and common employer and employee mistakes.

I. Why This Topic Matters

The end of employment is one of the most common trigger points for labor disputes in the Philippines. An employee leaves and is suddenly told:

“No final pay until you complete clearance.”
“You resigned, so you forfeited your 13th month.”
“You were dismissed, so you are no longer entitled to unpaid salary.”
“We will release your pay after 60 or 90 days.”
“Your remaining wages will answer for company losses.”
“Your last salary was withheld because you did not serve 30 days.”
“You signed a quitclaim, so you have no more claims.”
“You were absent, so we offset everything.”

Some of these statements may have a partial legal basis in specific situations. Many do not. Philippine labor law does not allow the mere end of employment to wipe out already accrued monetary rights.

The critical legal question is always this: What amounts were already earned, accrued, or made legally due before or upon separation, and what deductions or conditions are actually lawful?

II. What “Final Pay” Means

“Final pay” is often used in practice to mean the total amount that remains due to an employee upon separation from employment. It is sometimes also referred to as “last pay” or “back pay” in everyday language, although “backwages” in strict legal usage means something more specific, especially in illegal dismissal cases.

In ordinary HR and labor practice, final pay commonly includes the employee’s remaining monetary entitlements after the employment relationship ends, such as:

unpaid salary for work already performed,
salary differential if any,
pro-rated 13th month pay,
cash conversion of unused leave credits when legally due,
earned commissions that have already vested,
tax refunds or payroll adjustments where applicable,
reimbursements still due,
separation pay where the law or contract provides it,
other accrued benefits under policy, contract, CBA, or established practice.

Final pay is therefore not a single fixed benefit. It is a collection of whatever the employer still legally owes at the time of separation.

III. What Final Pay Is Not

To understand the subject properly, it is important to separate final pay from other labor concepts.

A. Final pay is not the same as separation pay

Separation pay is only one possible component, and only in some cases. Not every separated employee is entitled to separation pay.

B. Final pay is not the same as backwages

Backwages usually arise in illegal dismissal cases, where the employee is entitled to wages lost due to unlawful termination.

C. Final pay is not a discretionary goodwill amount

It is not merely what the employer chooses to release after clearance. It consists of amounts already due under law, contract, and earned compensation.

D. Final pay is not automatically forfeited by resignation or dismissal

An employee who resigned or was dismissed may still be entitled to unpaid salary and pro-rated 13th month pay, among others.

This distinction is central because many disputes arise from employers collapsing all concepts into one and treating final pay as optional.

IV. The Basic Rule: Earned Compensation Must Be Paid

The strongest principle in this area is simple: work already performed must be paid, subject only to lawful deductions and properly established offsets where allowed by law.

This means that if an employee has already worked:

the employee is generally entitled to salary for those days,
regardless of later resignation,
regardless of later termination,
and regardless of whether the employer is unhappy with the separation.

An employer cannot usually say:

“You resigned, so we will no longer pay your last cutoff,” or
“You were terminated for cause, so you lose your unpaid salary.”

Those positions are generally inconsistent with the principle that wages earned by labor already rendered remain due.

V. Main Components of Final Pay

A full final pay review in the Philippine setting commonly asks whether the separated employee is entitled to the following:

Unpaid salaries or wages
Pro-rated 13th month pay
Unused leave credits, if convertible
Earned commissions, incentives, or bonuses that already vested
Tax adjustments or refunds
Reimbursements and cash advances in netting context
Separation pay, if applicable
Retirement benefits, if applicable and matured
CBA or policy-based benefits
Backwages or damages in illegal dismissal cases

Not every separated employee gets all of these. But every proper analysis must at least consider them.

VI. Unpaid Salaries: The Most Basic Entitlement

Unpaid salary is often the easiest part of the case conceptually. If the employee already worked the period, salary is generally due.

Examples:

the employee worked from the 1st to the 15th and resigned on the 16th;
the employee was terminated effective immediately but had already worked the previous payroll period;
the employee was dismissed after an investigation, but the payroll cycle before dismissal remained unpaid;
the employee finished the last month but the employer withheld the whole cutoff due to unfinished clearance.

In all these examples, the employer must distinguish between:

salary already earned, and
other potential liabilities or deductions.

Salary already earned is not automatically erased by later employer claims.

VII. Salary After Resignation

An employee who resigns is still entitled to all salary already earned up to the effective date of resignation.

This includes:

workdays already rendered,
approved overtime already earned,
night shift differential where applicable,
holiday pay or premium pay already accrued,
salary differentials if legally due,
and similar earned wage items.

The fact that the employee resigned voluntarily does not deprive the employee of salary for work already performed.

If the employee served a 30-day notice

Salary for actual work during the notice period remains payable.

If the employee resigned immediately with legal cause

Salary for actual work already done remains payable.

If the employee resigned without serving notice and without legal cause

The employer may potentially raise issues concerning damages or lawful offsets in proper cases, but the employer still cannot automatically pretend that already earned salary disappeared. Any deduction must have real legal basis.

VIII. Salary After Termination

The same basic logic applies after termination.

Whether the employee was terminated for:

just cause,
authorized cause,
expiration of contract,
redundancy,
retrenchment,
disease,
closure of business,

the employer still generally owes salary already earned before the effective termination date.

An employee dismissed for serious misconduct does not thereby forfeit wages already earned before dismissal. The dismissal may affect other entitlements, especially separation pay in most just-cause cases, but not the reality that labor was already rendered and should be paid.

IX. The 13th Month Pay: Core Rule

One of the most important misconceptions is that 13th month pay is lost upon resignation or dismissal. That is generally false.

In the Philippines, 13th month pay is a statutory monetary benefit generally given to rank-and-file employees, subject to recognized exclusions and special cases. The core rule is that an employee who worked during the calendar year is generally entitled to pro-rated 13th month pay corresponding to the portion of the year actually served.

This means that if the employee separates before year-end, the employee does not usually lose the benefit entirely. Instead, the employee is entitled to the portion already earned.

X. Pro-Rated 13th Month Pay Upon Separation

A separated employee is generally entitled to the pro-rated 13th month pay corresponding to the year-to-date service, assuming the employee is otherwise covered by the 13th month pay rules.

This applies whether separation happened through:

resignation,
lawful dismissal,
redundancy,
retrenchment,
end of contract,
business closure,
or other forms of separation.

The common formula is based on the total basic salary earned during the calendar year divided by 12.

Example

If an employee earned total basic salary of ₱240,000 from January to August before resignation, the pro-rated 13th month pay is usually:

₱240,000 ÷ 12 = ₱20,000

The exact payroll treatment may vary depending on what was already partially paid or how the company computes basic salary components, but the principle remains: separation before December does not automatically eliminate the right to the earned proportion.

XI. What Counts for 13th Month Pay Computation

The usual rule is that 13th month pay is based on basic salary earned during the calendar year.

This often excludes items that are not part of basic salary, such as:

overtime pay,
premium pay,
night shift differential,
holiday pay beyond ordinary daily wage treatment depending on structure,
allowances that are not considered part of basic salary,
cash value of unused leave if not treated as salary,
commissions that are not part of basic salary in the strict sense,
other non-basic pay benefits.

But the exact payroll structure matters. In some workplaces, items labeled as allowances are in reality integrated salary components. In others, commissions may be treated differently depending on the employment structure and applicable jurisprudential treatment. The starting rule, however, is that 13th month pay is computed from basic salary, not every form of compensation.

XII. Resignation and 13th Month Pay

A resigning employee is generally entitled to:

unpaid salary for work already rendered,
and pro-rated 13th month pay for the part of the year already worked.

This is true whether:

the resignation was ordinary with notice,
immediate with just cause,
or even immediate without just cause, subject to other legal issues.

The right to pro-rated 13th month pay generally does not disappear simply because the employee chose to leave before year-end.

An employer policy that says “employees who resign are not entitled to 13th month pay” is highly problematic if it purports to erase the statutory pro-rated amount already earned.

XIII. Termination and 13th Month Pay

An employee who is terminated is also generally entitled to the pro-rated 13th month pay already earned during the year, provided the employee is covered by the law.

This includes many employees terminated for:

authorized causes such as redundancy, retrenchment, disease, closure, or labor-saving device implementation,
expiration of contract or project completion, where applicable,
and even many cases of just-cause termination, because the 13th month pay already earned is not ordinarily extinguished by the fact of dismissal.

The dismissal may affect:

separation pay,
reinstatement rights,
damages,
or other consequences,

but it does not usually destroy the portion of 13th month pay already accrued from basic salary earned during the year.

XIV. Separation Pay: Different From Final Pay

Many employees ask whether final pay includes separation pay. The answer is: sometimes, but not always.

Separation pay is due only when:

the law grants it,
the contract grants it,
the CBA grants it,
company policy grants it,
or jurisprudential equity in certain exceptional contexts recognizes it.

A separated employee may be entitled to final pay but not separation pay. This is common.

Authorized cause terminations

Separation pay is commonly relevant in terminations due to:

redundancy,
retrenchment,
installation of labor-saving devices,
closure or cessation of business under conditions recognized by law,
disease in proper cases.

Resignation

Ordinary resignation usually does not entitle the employee to separation pay, unless:

company policy grants it,
the CBA grants it,
the contract grants it,
or a retirement or similar benefit structure applies.

Just-cause dismissal

As a general rule, an employee dismissed for just cause is not entitled to statutory separation pay, except in certain equity-sensitive discussions in some contexts, and even then not where the ground is serious misconduct or similarly grave grounds usually treated as disqualifying.

This is why final pay analysis must avoid assuming that all departing employees receive separation pay.

XV. Leave Credits and Cash Conversion

Unused leave credits may or may not form part of final pay depending on the legal source of the entitlement.

Service incentive leave

If the employee is legally entitled to service incentive leave and it was unused and convertible, its cash equivalent may form part of final pay.

Vacation leave or sick leave

These are often governed by:

company policy,
contract,
handbook,
CBA,
established practice.

Some leave types are expressly convertible to cash if unused. Others are not. Some are convertible only upon separation. Others lapse.

So the right to leave conversion in final pay depends not only on labor law minimums but also on the employment terms and established practice.

XVI. Commissions, Incentives, and Bonuses

A frequent dispute concerns whether commissions, incentives, and bonuses must be included in final pay.

Commissions

If commissions were already earned and vested under the compensation plan before separation, they may still be payable even if released after the employee has left. The key questions are:

When is a commission considered earned?
Was the triggering event completed before separation?
Does the plan clearly state that employment on payout date is required, and is that rule enforceable in the specific context?

Incentives

The answer depends on whether the incentive had already vested or remained discretionary.

Bonuses

Not all bonuses are demandable. Some are discretionary management prerogatives. Others become demandable if:

promised by contract,
fixed by CBA,
long established as company practice,
or already earned under objective criteria.

A separated employee should therefore distinguish between:

already earned compensation, and
future discretionary benefits not yet vested.

XVII. Final Pay and Clearance

Clearance is one of the most common sources of confusion.

Employers often require employees to complete clearance procedures to:

return company property,
settle accountabilities,
document handover,
confirm no outstanding advances,
verify return of IDs, laptops, tools, files, and documents.

A reasonable clearance process is not inherently illegal. Employers may use it to determine what net amount remains due and whether lawful deductions apply.

But clearance does not mean the employer can indefinitely withhold everything or use the process as a tool for punishment.

The real legal issues are:

whether the clearance requirement is reasonable,
whether it is being used in good faith,
whether the deductions are lawful and documented,
and whether release of final pay is delayed beyond what is allowed or reasonable under labor standards and governing issuances.

XVIII. Can an Employer Withhold Final Pay Until Clearance Is Complete?

In practice, employers do process final pay through clearance. But this does not mean they have unlimited authority to freeze pay forever.

A lawful clearance mechanism may help determine:

what company assets remain unreturned,
whether cash advances remain outstanding,
whether authorized deductions are proper,
whether there are payroll or tax adjustments.

However:

the employer cannot invent indefinite delay,
cannot impose arbitrary withholding,
cannot use clearance to erase statutory entitlements,
and cannot deduct amounts without legal basis.

A delayed final pay release justified only by vague “pending clearance” for an unreasonable period can become legally vulnerable.

XIX. Time for Releasing Final Pay

In Philippine labor administration, final pay is generally expected to be released within the period prescribed by applicable labor issuances and regulations, subject to lawful deductions and clearance processing. The modern compliance expectation is not that employers may wait indefinitely or whenever convenient.

The practical rule is that employers should release final pay within the legally required or administratively recognized period after separation, absent justified issues requiring proper accounting. The exact modern period is often discussed in labor practice as a fixed post-separation time frame, unless a shorter period is required by company policy or agreement.

The core principle is this: final pay must be released within the governing legal period, not held indefinitely while the employee is ignored or repeatedly told to wait.

XX. Lawful Deductions From Final Pay

Not every deduction is illegal. But deductions must have a legal basis.

Possible lawful deductions may include:

unpaid salary loans or company loans,
authorized cash advances,
accountabilities supported by written authority or legal basis,
tax withholdings,
SSS, PhilHealth, Pag-IBIG, and similar statutory deductions where applicable,
value of unreturned company property where deduction is legally supportable and properly established,
other deductions allowed by law, regulation, written authorization, or judgment.

But the burden is on the employer to justify deductions properly.

XXI. Unlawful or Problematic Deductions

Deductions become questionable or unlawful when they are:

unsupported,
excessive,
punitive,
not authorized by law,
not consented to where consent is required,
or based only on employer anger rather than legal accountability.

Examples of problematic deductions include:

blanket forfeiture of final pay because the employee resigned,
total withholding due to “bad attitude,”
deduction for alleged losses never investigated or proven,
automatic charge for “training cost” without valid agreement and legal basis,
deduction for failure to serve 30 days without a proper damages basis,
deductions for vague inventory shortages with no established accountability,
arbitrary “clearance penalties.”

An employer cannot simply convert every grievance into a payroll deduction.

XXII. Resignation Without Notice and Effect on Final Pay

If an employee resigns without serving the usual notice period and without a legally recognized just cause, the employer may argue that the employee is liable for damages.

But this does not automatically mean the employer can confiscate all final pay. The employer must still act within the law.

The correct legal analysis asks:

Was there truly a notice violation?
Did the employer actually suffer provable damages?
Is there a lawful basis for offset?
Was the deduction authorized or judicially supportable?
Is the employer trying to impose a penalty rather than recover real loss?

Already earned salary and pro-rated 13th month pay are not simply erased by an employer’s displeasure over immediate resignation.

XXIII. Immediate Resignation With Just Cause

If the employee resigned immediately for legally recognized just cause, the employee is generally not required to serve the ordinary notice period. In that situation:

earned salary remains due,
pro-rated 13th month pay remains due,
other final pay components remain due,
and employer attempts to penalize the employee for leaving immediately become much weaker.

The just-cause basis for immediate resignation matters significantly when the employer tries to justify withholding or deductions.

XXIV. Termination for Just Cause and Final Pay

An employee validly dismissed for just cause may lose certain entitlements, especially statutory separation pay in the general rule. But the employee is still usually entitled to:

unpaid earned salary,
pro-rated 13th month pay,
convertible leave credits if due,
and other vested earned monetary benefits.

This is one of the most frequently misunderstood points. Dismissal for misconduct is not a magic formula that allows the employer to keep money that had already been earned.

XXV. Termination for Authorized Cause and Final Pay

An employee terminated for authorized cause is often entitled to:

unpaid salary,
pro-rated 13th month pay,
possible leave conversion,
and statutory separation pay, depending on the specific authorized cause and legal computation.

This category includes situations such as:

redundancy,
retrenchment,
labor-saving device installation,
disease in proper cases,
closure or cessation under qualifying conditions.

The exact amount of separation pay depends on the authorized cause involved and the employee’s length of service.

XXVI. Project, Fixed-Term, Casual, Probationary, and Similar Employees

Final pay principles are not limited to regular employees.

A probationary, project, fixed-term, seasonal, or casual employee may also be entitled to:

unpaid salary for work already performed,
pro-rated 13th month pay,
leave conversion where legally or contractually due,
and other vested benefits.

The end of contract status does not eliminate already accrued pay rights. What changes is usually:

whether regularization issues exist,
whether separation pay applies,
whether project completion or term expiration was valid,
and what benefits are tied to status or policy.

XXVII. Abandonment Allegations and Unpaid Benefits

Employers sometimes label a separation as “abandonment” and then withhold everything. But abandonment is a legal conclusion, not a magic label. Even if abandonment is established as a valid ground for dismissal, the employer still cannot ordinarily erase:

salary already earned,
pro-rated 13th month pay already accrued,
and similar vested benefits.

The real effect of abandonment is usually on the legality of the dismissal and the employee’s separation-pay position, not on whether already earned compensation vanishes.

XXVIII. Final Pay in Illegal Dismissal Cases

If the employee was illegally dismissed, the monetary picture becomes much larger. The employee may be entitled not only to ordinary final pay components, but also to:

backwages,
reinstatement without loss of seniority rights, or separation pay in lieu of reinstatement where proper,
unpaid salary differentials if any,
pro-rated 13th month implications tied to backwages,
damages in proper cases,
attorney’s fees in proper cases.

This article focuses on ordinary final pay after separation, but illegal dismissal significantly changes the remedial framework.

XXIX. Quitclaims and Releases

Many employers release final pay only after requiring the employee to sign a quitclaim, release, or waiver.

Such documents are not automatically invalid. A fair and reasonable quitclaim voluntarily signed for a legitimate and adequate amount may be recognized. But quitclaims are scrutinized carefully in labor law because of the inequality between employer and employee.

A quitclaim becomes vulnerable when:

the amount paid is unconscionably low,
the employee was pressured or deceived,
the employee did not really understand what was being waived,
the employer used the quitclaim to cover up underpayment of clearly due amounts,
the release was signed under financial distress and unequal bargaining pressure.

A worker should therefore distinguish between:

acknowledging receipt of computed final pay, and
broadly waiving all possible claims without understanding the consequences.

XXX. Can Final Pay Be Delayed Because of an Ongoing Investigation?

Sometimes employers say final pay cannot be released because there is a pending administrative or criminal investigation involving the employee.

That does not automatically justify total non-release. The employer must still determine:

what amounts are clearly earned and due,
what amounts are subject to lawful withholding or offset,
what legal basis exists for any hold,
and whether the delay is reasonable and legally supportable.

A vague pending investigation does not automatically authorize indefinite withholding of all salary and statutory benefits.

XXXI. Death of the Employee and Final Pay

If the employee dies while still employed or before final pay is released, unpaid final pay does not disappear. It becomes part of what may be released to the lawful heirs or proper claimants, subject to applicable procedures and documentary requirements.

This may include:

unpaid salary,
pro-rated 13th month pay,
leave conversions,
benefits due under company policy,
and possibly death-related benefits from other legal sources.

Employers must handle such cases carefully, because release involves both labor and succession-sensitive considerations.

XXXII. Tax, Payroll, and Year-End Adjustments

Final pay sometimes includes or is affected by:

tax refunds,
tax withholdings,
payroll reconciliation,
remaining deductions,
year-end adjustments.

These are legitimate accounting issues, but they must be real and documented. Employers should not use tax complexity as a blanket excuse for indefinite delay.

An employee should also understand that:

the gross final pay figure and the net released amount may differ,
and the correct legal question is whether the deductions were lawful and accurate.

XXXIII. Common Employer Defenses

Employers commonly argue:

“The employee has not completed clearance.”

This may justify reasonable processing, but not indefinite withholding or erasure of entitlements.

“The employee did not serve 30 days.”

That does not automatically eliminate earned salary or pro-rated 13th month pay.

“The employee was dismissed for cause.”

That may affect separation pay, but not usually earned wages and accrued pro-rated 13th month pay.

“Company policy says no final pay without complete turnover.”

Policy cannot override labor standards and statutory entitlements.

“There are accountabilities and shortages.”

These must be proven and legally deductible, not merely alleged.

“The employee signed a quitclaim.”

Its validity depends on fairness, voluntariness, and adequacy.

Each defense must be tested against law, not just repeated as HR formula.

XXXIV. Common Employee Misconceptions

Employees also make serious mistakes, such as:

assuming all unused leave is automatically convertible,
assuming separation pay always exists,
thinking resignation erases the right to final pay and therefore not pursuing it,
signing broad quitclaims without checking computations,
failing to keep payslips, contracts, and payroll records,
confusing discretionary bonuses with legally demandable benefits,
assuming that lack of clearance automatically means no more rights.

A final pay dispute is often won or lost on documentation and classification, not emotion alone.

XXXV. Practical Computation Example

Suppose an employee resigns effective September 15. The employee has:

unpaid salary from September 1 to September 15,
unused convertible leave credits,
total basic salary earned from January 1 to September 15,
no separation pay because it is ordinary resignation,
no unpaid company loan,
no lawful deductions beyond ordinary payroll items.

The employee’s final pay may include:

Salary for September 1–15
Pro-rated 13th month pay based on total basic salary earned from January 1 to September 15 divided by 12
Cash equivalent of unused convertible leave credits
Any earned commissions already vested
Less lawful deductions only

This is a typical final pay structure.

XXXVI. Practical Documentation the Employee Should Keep

An employee with a final pay issue should preserve:

employment contract or appointment papers,
payslips,
payroll records,
time records where relevant,
resignation letter or termination notice,
clearance forms,
handbook or company policy on leave conversion,
commission plans if applicable,
prior 13th month computations,
quitclaim drafts,
email or chat communications on release date,
proof of accountabilities already returned or settled.

A clean paper trail is extremely valuable in labor disputes.

XXXVII. Practical Documentation the Employer Should Maintain

An employer should keep:

payroll records,
proof of salary payment,
13th month computation worksheets,
leave credit records,
lawful deduction authorizations,
clearance records,
inventory and return records for company property,
cash advance and loan records,
resignation or termination documents,
computation sheet of final pay,
proof of release date and mode.

Poor documentation often turns an ordinary payroll issue into a legal complaint.

XXXVIII. Administrative and Legal Remedies for Non-Release

If the employer fails to release final pay or unlawfully withholds amounts due, the employee may pursue appropriate labor remedies. Depending on the nature and amount of the claim, the issue may be raised before the proper labor authorities or adjudicatory bodies with jurisdiction over money claims and related labor disputes.

The exact forum depends on:

whether the claim is purely monetary,
whether there is an illegal dismissal component,
the amount involved,
and the structure of the dispute.

The employee’s strongest position is usually a well-documented computation showing:

what was earned,
what was released,
what remains due,
and why the employer’s deductions or delay are unlawful.

XXXIX. Bottom Line

In the Philippines, resignation or termination does not by itself erase the employer’s obligation to pay final pay, unpaid salaries, and pro-rated 13th month pay already earned by the employee. Final pay is a composite of whatever remains legally due upon separation, and it commonly includes earned but unpaid wages, the pro-rated 13th month benefit, leave conversions where applicable, and other vested benefits. Separation pay may also be included, but only when the law, contract, policy, CBA, or valid legal basis provides it.

The most important principles are these:

work already performed must generally be paid;
pro-rated 13th month pay is generally due upon separation for covered employees;
resignation does not automatically forfeit statutory money claims;
dismissal for cause does not automatically erase earned wages and accrued 13th month pay;
clearance may support reasonable processing but not indefinite or arbitrary withholding;
deductions must have clear legal basis;
quitclaims are scrutinized for fairness and voluntariness.

The legal dispute is therefore rarely about whether the employee left. It is usually about what money had already been earned, accrued, vested, or legally triggered before the employment relationship ended.

Final Practical Conclusion

A final pay dispute after resignation or termination in the Philippines should be analyzed item by item, not through broad assumptions. Start with unpaid salary for actual work rendered. Then compute pro-rated 13th month pay based on the year’s basic salary earned before separation. Then examine leave conversions, commissions, reimbursements, and separation pay only if applicable. After that, test every employer deduction against actual legal authority. In most cases, the right question is not whether the employee resigned or was terminated, but whether the employer can lawfully justify paying less than what the employee had already earned.