What it usually covers
The term covers unpaid minimum wage or overtime, work done off the clock, unlawful deductions, withheld tips, unpaid final wages, and misclassifying employees as independent contractors. Whether someone is an employee is decided by the law and the actual working relationship, not by the label an employer chooses. Federal law and New York law both apply, and New York's rules are often more protective. New York also requires employers to give written wage notices and accurate pay statements, and missing paperwork can be a claim of its own.
Civil, agency, and criminal paths
Workers can file a complaint with the New York State Department of Labor or the federal Wage and Hour Division, or bring a lawsuit, sometimes on behalf of a group of coworkers. Retaliating against someone for raising a wage complaint is prohibited. New York has also amended its larceny law to cover wage theft, and some district attorneys' offices have pursued employers criminally. Wage protections for work already performed generally apply regardless of immigration status. The time limits under state and federal law differ, so waiting can mean losing part of a claim. An agency complaint and a lawsuit can affect each other, so it helps to choose a path deliberately rather than starting several at once.
Records that matter, on either side
Workers should keep pay stubs, schedules, texts or messages about hours and pay, and their own records of work performed, but should ask a lawyer before taking any employer documents. Employers should preserve payroll and time records, review how workers are classified, and respond to a Department of Labor inquiry or a prosecutor's subpoena through counsel rather than informally. Changing records after a complaint arrives creates serious new problems. In a first consultation we sort out which path is already underway, which deadlines apply, and whether the wage theft issue is better handled as a civil claim, an agency matter, or, for an employer, a criminal defense question.
