Court or an agency complaint
In New York, unpaid wage claims can be brought in court under state law, federal law, or both, or filed as a complaint with the state Department of Labor or the federal Wage and Hour Division. A lawsuit gives you more control over timing and strategy, and New York's wage law allows recovery of liquidated damages and attorney fees in many cases. Agency complaints cost nothing to file but move at the agency's pace, and the result may not include everything a court could award. Some claims involve groups of workers and can proceed as collective or class actions, which changes the planning considerably. An arbitration agreement signed at hiring may also decide whether court is open to you at all.
Proving the hours and the pay
Employers are required to keep records of hours and pay, and when those records are missing or unreliable, a worker's reasonable estimate can carry weight. Gather pay stubs, any wage notice you received at hire, bank deposits, schedules, and texts about shifts or pay. Time-tracking app data, building access logs, and delivery or route records can help reconstruct hours. Think about who your supervisors were and which coworkers were paid the same way. Do not take employer records you are not entitled to; ask your lawyer what can be requested in the case instead.
Who can be named, and when to file
In some wage cases, owners or managers with real control over pay can be personally responsible, and in New York certain shareholders of closely held companies can be reached for unpaid wages under specific procedures. Filing deadlines differ between state and federal claims, and older pay periods can be lost if a case waits. Retaliation for complaining about pay is prohibited, which matters if you still work there. In a first meeting we estimate what is owed, identify the employer entities and individuals involved, and discuss whether a demand letter, a lawsuit, or an agency complaint makes sense first.
