How to File a Wage Claim and Recover Unpaid Wages

To file a wage claim, contact the federal Wage and Hour Division (WHD) or your state labor agency with details about your employer and the wages you’re owed, submit supporting documents such as pay stubs and your own time records, and do it within two years of the violation — three years if the employer’s violation was willful.¹ Federal filing is free and requires no lawyer. You can also skip the agencies and sue your employer directly, which is the only route that opens the door to doubled recovery through liquidated damages.

File Before the Deadline Runs

Under federal law, you have two years from the date of the violation to file. If your employer knew it was breaking the law or showed reckless disregard for it, the window extends to three years.¹ State deadlines run from as short as 180 days to as long as six years, depending on where you live and what your employer did.

Because most wage cases involve ongoing underpayment across months or years, the deadline works on a rolling basis. You can reach back two or three years from the day you file, but anything older is gone. Every week you wait is a week of wages you may not recover. File as soon as you have enough documentation to make the claim.

One boundary worth naming: wage claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act are for employees, not independent contractors. If you’re paid on a 1099 but your employer sets your hours, provides your tools, and you work exclusively for them, you may still be an employee — the WHD applies an “economic reality” test that looks past what your paperwork calls you. Misclassified workers can file the same claims as anyone else.

Choose Where to File

You have three paths, and the choice affects both what you have to do and what you can recover.

The Federal Wage and Hour Division

The WHD enforces the FLSA and investigates minimum wage, overtime, and related complaints at no cost. Call 1-866-487-9243 or use the WHD’s online contact portal.² There’s no formal claim form; an investigator from the nearest field office typically follows up within two business days to gather the details.³

The tradeoff: if the WHD supervises payment of your back wages and you accept the check, you give up your right to file a private FLSA lawsuit for the same violation.⁴ As of mid-2025, the WHD also no longer seeks liquidated damages (the double-pay penalty) in its own administrative proceedings. That remedy is now available only through a court lawsuit.

Your State Labor Agency

Many states enforce wage laws that are stronger than the FLSA — a higher minimum wage, broader overtime coverage, or steeper penalties for a late final paycheck. When federal and state law both apply, your employer must follow whichever is more favorable to you.⁵ Check your state labor department’s website to compare what you could recover under each.

State processes vary. Some require a formal claim form (often called an “Initial Report or Claim”) submitted online, by mail, or in person. Some states charge administrative filing fees; others don’t. Processing times differ significantly by state.

A Private Lawsuit

You can skip the agencies and sue your employer in court. This is the only path that preserves your right to liquidated damages — an amount equal to your unpaid wages, effectively doubling what you receive. If you win, the court must also award you reasonable attorney’s fees, meaning the employer pays your lawyer on top of the wages owed.⁴ The employer’s only defense against liquidated damages is proving it acted in good faith and had reasonable grounds to believe it was following the law.⁶

The catch is time and money upfront. Many employment attorneys work on contingency, collecting only if you win, but that isn’t guaranteed. A private lawsuit makes the most sense when the amount owed is large, when liquidated damages would be significant, or when the same violations affect other workers. One more thing to know: if the DOL files its own lawsuit on your behalf, your individual right to sue under the FLSA terminates.⁴

Gather Your Information and Documents

Whether you go to an agency or an attorney, you’ll need the same core material. Have it ready before the first call.

About your employer: the legal business name, physical address, and phone number, plus the name of your direct supervisor or the owner. About yourself: full legal name, contact details, job title, hire date, and last day of work if you’ve left.

You’ll need to state your rate of pay — hourly, salaried, or commission — and identify the specific dates you were underpaid. A concrete calculation of what you’re owed strengthens the claim. For example: “I worked 10 hours of overtime during the week of May 12, 2025, at a rate of $30 per hour. My overtime rate should have been $45 per hour, so I’m owed an additional $150 that wasn’t included in my May 23 paycheck.”

Collect every supporting document you can:

Pay stubs showing your rate of pay, hours, and deductions
Personal timesheets, calendars, or notes where you tracked your hours
Your employment contract or offer letter
Written communications with your employer about pay — emails, text messages, letters
Bank statements showing deposit amounts and dates

Missing records aren’t fatal. Federal law requires employers to keep payroll records for at least three years, including daily hours worked and total wages per pay period.⁷ During an investigation, the agency can compel your employer to produce them. If your employer can’t or won’t, that cuts against them, not you.

Submit the Claim

For a federal complaint, contact the WHD by phone at 1-866-487-9243 or through the online portal at dol.gov.² No lawyer, no fee. Your complaint is routed to the nearest WHD field office, and an investigator contacts you to discuss the details and decide whether a formal investigation is warranted.³

State agencies usually require a completed claim form from your state labor department’s website. Most allow online submission with document uploads. If you file by mail, use a service with tracking and delivery confirmation. Some offices accept walk-ins; bring copies of everything if you go in person. You should receive an acknowledgment with a case number after submitting.

What Happens After You File

The agency notifies your employer and gives it a set timeframe to respond with payroll records, timekeeping logs, and any documentation that pushes back on your claim. A WHD investigator can examine those records and interview you, your employer, and witnesses. If the investigation concludes wages are owed, the WHD will first try to get the employer to pay voluntarily.³

If the employer agrees, you receive a check for the back wages. If the employer disputes the findings or refuses to pay, the DOL may sue on your behalf, which is also the only route through which the government can pursue liquidated damages on top of the back pay.⁴

At the state level, many agencies encourage settlement through an informal conference or mediation before moving to a formal hearing. If settlement fails, an administrative hearing officer takes evidence and issues a binding decision. The full timeline runs from a few months for straightforward cases to well over a year when hearings or appeals are involved.

What You Can Recover

What you walk away with depends on where and how you filed.

Back wages: the unpaid minimum wages or overtime you should have been paid. This is the core recovery in any wage claim.
Liquidated damages: in a court lawsuit under the FLSA, an additional amount equal to your back wages, effectively doubling the recovery. This is the default result unless the employer proves good faith. The WHD no longer pursues liquidated damages administratively, so this remedy is now court-only.⁶
Attorney’s fees: if you win in court, the judge must order the employer to pay your reasonable fees and costs. The provision runs one way; losing doesn’t leave you owing the employer’s legal bill.⁴
State penalties: many states add their own penalties on top of federal remedies, such as daily fines for a late final paycheck. These vary and can add meaningfully to the total.

The choice often comes down to this. A government investigation is free and low-effort but caps you at back wages. A lawsuit is more work but opens the door to liquidated damages and attorney’s fees, which can double or triple the payout. For small amounts, the agency route is usually enough. For larger or systemic violations, a private lawsuit or DOL-initiated litigation recovers substantially more.

Protection Against Retaliation

Federal law makes it illegal for your employer to fire, demote, cut your hours, or otherwise punish you for filing a wage complaint, cooperating with an investigation, or testifying in a proceeding.⁸ The protection applies the moment you file, and it still applies even if your underlying wage claim turns out to be wrong, as long as you filed in good faith.

If your employer retaliates, you can file a retaliation complaint with the WHD or file a separate lawsuit.⁹ Remedies include reinstatement, lost wages, and liquidated damages equal to those lost wages.⁴ Save any communications that show the timing or motivation of adverse actions after you filed. Retaliation is easier to prove when you can lay out a clean timeline connecting your complaint to what the employer did next.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 255 – Statute of Limitations
2
U.S. Department of Labor. How to File a Complaint
3
Worker.gov. Filing a Complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 216 – Penalties
5
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 7 – State and Local Governments Under the Fair Labor Standards Act
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 260 – Liquidated Damages
7
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 21 – Recordkeeping Requirements Under the Fair Labor Standards Act
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 215 – Prohibited Acts
9
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 77A – Prohibiting Retaliation Under the Fair Labor Standards Act