Laying Off Your Crew for Winter in the US: The Final Paycheck and the Notice Your State Requires

You tell four of your crew on Friday there’s no work until March. In California, that winter layoff makes their final checks due on the spot, recall date or not. Here’s what five states want paid and handed over before they leave.

Elsewhere the clock runs longer. Texas gives you six days. Illinois allows the next regular payday at the latest, and New York the regular payday for that last week. Four states also want a notice or form in the worker’s hand: Georgia, California, Illinois and New York. No federal law makes you pay a departing worker immediately. The U.S. Department of Labor says so plainly and leaves the deadline to the states. So every winter layoff rule here is a state rule, and the state is wherever your crew works.

A recall date doesn’t stop a winter layoff

Most contractors lay off a seasonal crew fully intending to bring it back. That doesn’t change the paperwork. California treats a layoff without a return date inside the current pay period as a discharge. The Labor Commissioner’s enforcement manual says the wages are then due under Labor Code section 201, which means immediately. “See you in March” is a recall plan, not a return date inside the pay period.

Texas reads it the same way. The Texas Workforce Commission says a worker who is “laid off, discharged, fired, or otherwise involuntarily separated” gets final pay within six calendar days. New York goes further on the paperwork. Its notice requirement applies to temporary layoffs and seasonal work as well as permanent ones. So treat every winter layoff as a separation, and do it properly.

Winter layoff rules, state by state

Each cell comes from the state’s statute, regulation or labor agency. Where we couldn’t confirm a rule at an official source, the cell says so.

California: the check on the last day

Under Labor Code section 201, a discharged worker’s wages are “due and payable immediately,” and the Labor Commissioner’s final-pay guidance adds accrued vacation to that check. Pay it where the layoff happens, which for most crews means the yard or the last job. A previously authorized direct deposit may not count, so plan for a physical check unless your payroll provider confirms otherwise.

If you’re late on purpose, the worker’s daily wage keeps running as a penalty for up to 30 days. That’s the “waiting time” penalty in section 203, and it adds up quickly on a full crew. You don’t cash out paid sick leave, but it comes back if you rehire the worker within 12 months.

The Employment Development Department, which runs California’s unemployment insurance, adds two papers. You must give written notice “immediately” when a worker is laid off, and EDD publishes a sample notice that meets the minimum. You also give the worker the DE 2320 pamphlet, “For Your Benefit,” which explains how to claim.

Georgia: the DOL-800 on the last day

The Georgia Department of Labor rewrote its rule on separation notices from August 9, 2026. Every separated worker gets a completed Form DOL-800, whatever the reason. Hand it over on paper or electronically on the last day of work. If the worker isn’t there, email or mail it within three days. For a seasonal layoff, check box 4a, “Lack of work.”

New York: two papers, two deadlines

New York pays manual workers weekly, so a crew’s final check is due on the regular payday for that last week. On the day itself, give each worker the state’s Record of Employment, Form IA 12.3. The Department of Labor requires it at every separation, including temporary and seasonal layoffs. Then, within five working days, Labor Law section 195(6) requires a written notice with the exact date of termination and the date any benefits end.

Illinois and Texas

Illinois lets you pay at the next regular payday, and earned vacation goes in that check. Leave under the state’s Paid Leave for All Workers Act is different. It isn’t paid out unless you put it in a vacation or PTO bank, and it comes back if you rehire the worker within 12 months. Give each worker the IDES pamphlet, “What Every Worker Should Know About Unemployment Insurance,” if the layoff should last seven days or more. Mail it within five days if you can’t hand it over.

Texas sets the six-day deadline in its Payday Law, and you owe vacation only if your written policy says so. The Texas Workforce Commission says state law doesn’t require a written notice of a layoff. It still recommends a short, clear one, so nobody argues later about pay owed after the last day.

What to put in the winter layoff letter

Even where the state requires no form, a one-page letter does a lot of work. Keep it short and factual:

• The last day worked, and that the reason is a seasonal layoff for lack of work. Don’t let “quit” or “resigned” appear anywhere, in the letter or on a state form.
• The month you expect to recall the crew, written as an expectation, not a promise.
• What the final check includes: hours through the last day and any vacation owed.
• When any health coverage ends, which New York requires in writing.
• Who to call in spring, and how you’ll contact them.

Whether a worker qualifies for unemployment is the state agency’s decision, not yours. Accurate wording on the layoff letter and the forms gives the agency the right reason when your crew claims over the winter.

Before the crew leaves the yard

Fix each worker’s last day in writing. In California, run final payroll before it, so the check is ready on the day. Keep a copy of every notice you hand over, and proof of any electronic delivery.

Keep each worker’s Form I-9 on file, too. A seasonal worker you expect back is usually continuing employment, as our guide to Form I-9 for contractors explains. And before you set spring rehire rates, check the new 2027 state minimum wages.

One rule depends on your size. The federal WARN Act requires 60 days’ notice of mass layoffs. It applies only to employers with 100 or more employees, and workers on temporary layoff count toward that number. Some states have their own versions. A day when weather sends the crew home but the season isn’t over is different again: see reporting time pay.