How to Report Wage Theft: Filing With the DOL or Your State
You can report wage theft to the DOL's Wage and Hour Division or your state labor agency for free, with no lawyer required. Here is what to document, how to file, and what to expect afterward.
Reporting wage theft means formally notifying an enforcement agency that your employer owes you wages. You can file with the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division, your state labor agency, or both, at no cost and without needing a lawyer.
Your employer cannot legally punish you for doing so. The process is more approachable than most workers expect, and this guide walks through exactly what to gather, where to file, and what happens once you do.
Know what you're reporting
Before filing, name the violation clearly. Wage theft covers unpaid overtime, off-the-clock work, minimum-wage shortfalls, unlawful deductions, tip theft, and unpaid final wages. Being specific helps investigators act efficiently and keeps your complaint focused.
If you are not sure which category fits, what is wage theft lays out each type with examples. And use the back-pay calculator to attach a concrete dollar figure, which strengthens any complaint immediately.
Document your claim
Collect what you have before filing: pay stubs for the relevant period, screenshots or printouts from any time-tracking system, a personal log of hours if you kept one, and any texts or emails showing you were required to work outside your scheduled shift.
If you lack records, file anyway. The FLSA puts the recordkeeping burden on employers, not employees. When the employer's records are incomplete or missing, investigators and courts use your testimony and reasonable estimates to establish hours and wages. Missing employer records cannot be used to defeat your claim.
File with the Wage and Hour Division
Go to the WHD complaint page or call 1-866-487-9243. You will need your employer's name and address, your pay rate and job title, an approximate date range for the violation, and a brief description of what happened.
The form takes about fifteen minutes. Your identity can be kept confidential on request, and the WHD will avoid revealing your name to the employer wherever it can. Save the reference number you receive when you submit.
File with your state labor agency too
State agencies enforce state wage laws, which often beat federal protections with higher minimums, longer lookbacks, and bigger penalties. Most have an online complaint portal. California workers file with the Labor Commissioner, New York workers file with the Division of Labor Standards, and Texas workers file with the Texas Workforce Commission.
You can file with state and federal agencies at the same time, and in many cases you should. It costs nothing extra and preserves the route that recovers the most. For the full step-by-step, see how to file a wage claim.
What happens after you file
At the federal level, a WHD district office assigns an investigator who reviews employer records and may interview coworkers confidentially. You do not have to appear in person or argue your case. If a violation is found, the employer is ordered to pay back wages plus equal liquidated damages.
If they refuse, the Department of Labor can pursue a federal lawsuit. Most clear-cut investigations conclude within a few months. A finding usually covers everyone affected by the same pay practice, so a single complaint can return wages to an entire crew.
Retaliation: know your rights
If your employer retaliates after you report wage theft, by firing you, cutting your hours, changing your schedule, or demoting you, that is an additional federal violation under the FLSA. File a separate retaliation complaint with the WHD immediately.
Federal retaliation claims have their own statute of limitations, and some state retaliation windows are as short as 30 days, so do not delay. Document every adverse action carefully: the date, what happened, and who communicated it to you. That timeline is what proves retaliation.
Frequently asked questions
Will my employer find out I reported them? The WHD keeps your identity confidential to the extent the law allows and often interviews multiple workers so no one is singled out. Total anonymity is harder in a very small workplace, but disclosure is the exception.
Can I report anonymously? You can request confidentiality, and the agency will protect your name where possible, but a fully anonymous complaint limits the agency's ability to investigate and to recover wages for you specifically.
What if I already quit? You can still report. The clock runs from each underpaid payday, not your last day, so former employees regularly recover back pay after leaving.
Quantify it, then report
A report backed by a number gets taken more seriously and moves faster than a vague complaint. The two minutes it takes to build that figure pay off at every later stage.
Use the back-pay calculator to estimate what you are owed, then paste the total into your complaint. This is general information, not legal advice, but turning your suspicion into a defensible figure is the strongest first move you can make.