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Unpaid Wages

The Fair Labor Standards Act sets a federal floor: a minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, and overtime at one and a half times your regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek. Where a state or city sets a higher minimum, the higher rate applies. Most wage claims are not really about the rate at all — they are about unpaid overtime, off-the-clock work, and being called something you are not. Call 1-844-690-0555 free, any hour — and a one-hour consultation with a licensed US attorney ($195, a fixed fee) can be booked right on the call.

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Generally two years to recover back wages under federal law, extended to three years for a willful violation. Every pay period that passes is a period you may lose, so acting early recovers more.

Unpaid Wages at a glance

$7.25 federal floor

And the higher state or local minimum wins where one exists

Tipped rate $2.13

Permitted only if tips bring the total to at least the full minimum — otherwise the employer makes up the difference

Overtime after 40 hours

One and a half times the regular rate, in a workweek, for non-exempt employees

Salary does not mean exempt

Exemption depends on duties and salary level — a title and a salary alone prove nothing

Two years, three if willful

The federal limitation period for recovering back wages

Misclassification, the biggest single problem

Two misclassifications dominate wage claims. The first is exempt versus non-exempt: paying someone a salary and calling them a manager does not make them exempt from overtime — exemption depends on what the person actually does day to day, against duties tests, plus a salary threshold. Someone titled assistant manager who spends most of their time doing the same work as the crew is very often owed overtime. The second is employee versus independent contractor: a genuine contractor controls how and when they work; a worker told when to arrive, what to wear and how to do the job is usually an employee no matter what the contract says. Talk it through with a lawyer now →

Off-the-clock work and the small thefts

The classic patterns: work before clocking in and after clocking out, mandatory training and meetings treated as unpaid, automatic meal deductions where the break was never actually taken, required travel between job sites during the day, and answering calls and messages outside shift hours. Individually these look trivial; over a year, at time-and-a-half where they push you past 40 hours, they add up to real money. Keep your own contemporaneous record — where an employer's records are inadequate, a worker's reasonable estimate can carry the day. Talk it through with a lawyer now →

How to actually recover it

You can file a complaint with the federal Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division or with your state labor agency, both free, and many state agencies are faster and cover more than the federal floor — including state overtime rules that are more generous, such as daily overtime in some states. Or you can sue, and the FLSA provides for liquidated damages that can double the unpaid amount plus attorney's fees, which is why wage cases are often taken on contingency. Retaliation for making a wage complaint is separately illegal. Talk it through with a lawyer now →

If you are owed wages, step by step

Keep your own record of hours from todayWhere employer records are inadequate, your reasonable estimate can prevail.

Check whether you are genuinely exemptDuties decide it, not a title or a salary.

File with the state or federal labor agency — both freeOr consult a lawyer; fees are often recoverable. Call 1-844-690-0555 free, any hour — and a one-hour consultation with a licensed US attorney ($195, a fixed fee) can be booked right on the call.

Unpaid Wages — your questions answered

I am on a salary. Can I still get overtime?

Very possibly. Being paid a salary does not by itself make you exempt — exemption requires both a salary at or above the threshold and job duties that fit an executive, administrative, professional or other recognised exemption. Misclassified salaried staff, especially in retail, hospitality and care, are among the largest categories of unpaid overtime claims in the country.

My employer says I am a contractor, so no overtime. Is that right?

Only if you genuinely are one. The label and the contract do not decide it — the reality of the relationship does: who controls how, when and where the work is done, whose equipment is used, whether you can work for others, and whether you have any real opportunity for profit or loss. Misclassified contractors are entitled to minimum wage, overtime and other protections retrospectively.

How far back can I claim?

Generally two years under federal law, and three years if the violation was willful. Some states allow longer, and state wage laws frequently provide better remedies than the federal minimum. Because the period rolls forward, every month you wait is potentially a month of wages you cannot recover — which is the practical reason to act now rather than at the end of the job.