201.

 (a) (1) If an employer discharges an employee, the wages earned and unpaid at the time of discharge are due and payable immediately. If at the time the employee is discharged, the employer’s accounting unit responsible for the drawing of payroll checks is not regularly scheduled to be operational, the wages due to the discharged employee shall be made available to the employee no later than six hours after the start of the accounting unit’s next regular workday. If the accounting unit is located off the work site, the employer shall deliver the check for wages due to the discharged employee no later than 24 hours after the start of the accounting unit’s next regular workday to the work site, the employer’s local office, or the employee’s last-known mailing address. An

(2) An employer who lays off a group of employees by reason of the termination of seasonal employment in the curing, canning, or drying of any variety of perishable fruit, fish, or vegetables, shall be deemed to have made immediate payment when the wages of said these employees are paid within a reasonable time as necessary for the computation and payment thereof; provided, however, that of the wages. However, the reasonable time shall not exceed 72 hours, and further provided that payment shall be made by mail to any employee who so requests and designates a mailing address therefor.

(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the a state employer shall be deemed to have made an immediate payment of wages under this section for any unused or accumulated vacation, annual leave, holiday leave, or time off to which the employee is entitled by reason of previous overtime work where compensating time off was given by the appointing power, provided, if at least five workdays prior to his or her final day of employment, the employee submits a written election to his or her appointing power authorizing the state employer to tender payment for any or all leave to be contributed on a pretax basis to the employee’s account in a state-sponsored supplemental retirement plan as described under Sections 401(k), 403(b), or 457 of the Internal Revenue Code provided if the plan allows those contributions. The contribution shall be tendered for payment to the employee’s 401(k), 403(b), or 457 plan account no later than 45 days after the employee’s discharge from employment. Nothing in this section is intended to authorize contributions in excess of the annual deferral limits imposed under federal and state law or the provisions of the supplemental retirement plan itself.

(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, when the state employer discharges an employee, the employee may, at least five workdays prior to his or her final day of employment, submit a written election to his or her appointing power authorizing the state employer to defer into the next calendar year payment of any or all of the employee’s unused or accumulated vacation, annual leave, holiday leave, or time off to which the employee is entitled by reason of previous overtime work where compensating time off was given by the appointing power. To qualify for the deferral of payment under this section, only that portion of leave that extends past the November pay period for state employees shall be deferred into the next calendar year. An employee electing to defer payment into the next calendar year under this section may do any of the following:

(1) Contribute the entire payment to his or her 401(k), 403(b), or 457 plan account.

(2) Contribute any portion of the deferred payment to his or her 401(k), 403(b), or 457 plan account and receive cash payment for the remaining noncontributed unused leave.

(3) Receive a lump-sum payment for all of the deferred unused leave as described above.

(d) Payments shall be tendered under this section no later than February 1 in the year following the employee’s last day of employment. Nothing in this section is intended to authorize contributions in excess of the annual deferral limits imposed under federal and state law or the provisions of the supplemental retirement plan itself.