What if an employee never picks up their final paycheck?

If you have an employee’s final pay but the employee never picks it up, you may submit it to the local Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) office as unclaimed wages.

Specifically, the DLSE provides: If you have non-negotiated checks on your books and the checks are made payable to employees who have left your employment and whom you cannot locate, you may send the Labor Commissioner the non-negotiated checks, along with an explanation of your efforts to contact the employee.

The Labor Commissioner will try to locate the employee and make payment of the wages. If these attempts are unsuccessful, the checks will be deposited into the State of California