If a contractor discharges (fires) an employee, when must final wages be paid?

Explanation

Labor Code §201(a) makes wages earned and unpaid due and payable immediately when the employer discharges an employee, and §208 fixes the place as the place of discharge. The 72-hour deadline belongs to §202, which covers an employee who quits without notice. The 24-hour rule, weekends and holidays excluded, is the narrow §201.7 exception for oil-drilling layoffs. The next regular payday is the ordinary §204 rule for wages during employment; it never governs a discharge.