How to Get Unpaid Wages

Getting unpaid wages can sometimes be easy especially if you have written documentation proving your case. If the government is used to get unpaid wages, the process is usually very easy. If you use a lawyer, the outcome depends on how good your evidence is. In just a few steps, you can get your unpaid wages or start the lawsuit process.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Gather all written documentation which proves you are owed unpaid wages.
   
   Time cards and timesheets are very useful here. Getting your original employment contract can be helpful as well. For example, if you did overtime but the boss won't pay you, you have to have a way of proving you did the overtime. Short of that, you could try to prove that the boss told you to do overtime with email correspondence (if it exists).
   
   Depending on the state, the type of job you do may determine whether you are owed overtime or not. A written job description and reviews can be very useful to determine what type of job you actually do. The title does not matter. All that matters is your pay and job duties.

2. Contact the state labor commissioner and file a claim for unpaid wages.
   
   You will need to look for the correct website for your state on the internet. In most cases, you can apply online or submit a PDF claim in the mail. This process can take money months due to a backlog in unpaid wage claims, so don't spend the money from unpaid wages anytime soon.
   
   When you do this, you'll normally be interviewed and depending on the outcome of the interview, you may go to a full hearing where both you and your employer argue the case.

3. If none of the above pans out, contact a lawyer that specializes in employment, unpaid wages, and overtime.
   
   Many lawyers will only do class action lawsuits, which means you have to have a group of employees affected similarly with unpaid wages. If you have a class action case, you may be able to get this done on contingency. Otherwise, you will have to shop around. Many lawyers specialize in one type of unpaid wage cases - overtime. If your case is good enough, you can avoid out of pocket legal fees by going on contingency. If the lawyer doesn't take your case on contingency, you'll probably have to shop around more because legal fees generally far exceed any possibiliy of recovery beyond the lawyer's fees.